KEVIN Bridges revealed reading Trainspotting aged 11 changed his life.

Bridges credited author Irvine Welsh with sparking an enthusiasm for reading when he was growing up in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire.

His mum encouraged him to read Enid Blyton books, while his dad, who was forced to give up work due to rheumatoid arthritis and struggled with depression, wrote poems.

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Older brother John, who would have been in his early 20s, passed on a copy of Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh.

Bridges said the prolific swearing captured his imagination and revealed he messaged Welsh to thank him.

He said: "In the book [the Black Dog], I thank my mum for always encouraging me to read and my dad for always encouraging to write.

“My dad was forced to quit work as he had a severe case of rheumatoid arthritis. He suffered from a bit of depression when he was on benefits.

"I remember seeing how much he struggled.

“But he started going to a creative writing class with other guys who were on incapacity benefits.

"I remember going to a showcase of the work they had and my dad recited some of his poems. I was only 10 or 11 but I was dead proud of him.

“My mum was always saying ‘read this book.’ God love her, she would recommend books she had enjoyed like, Enid Blyton. It couldn’t quite relate to it.

“To me, Irvine Welsh was the first guy who made reading seem like fun.

“Because my brother John was 10 years older than me he was like a third parent or a like a cool uncle.

“He had a copy of Trainspotting. What gripped me was thinking ‘I should not be reading this.’ I was only 11 or 12 at the time.

“I remember going ‘woah, this is mental.’ I just enjoyed the swearing at first then I really took to it. He’s been one of my biggest inspirations creatively.

“He just made that world seem accessible and he was somebody I could relate to.

“I’m quite sure I speak for a lot of people from my background in saying that Irvine Welsh got us into reading.

“I would love it if he read my book. I’ve never actually met him. I have slid into his DMs.

"He told me he was at my show at the Fringe a few years ago. I was delighted he was at least aware of me.

“The guy is a master. I would totally forgive him if he chucked it in the bin.”

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Speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, he told an audience how his own book, the Black Dog, looked at experiences of life in a working-class community and his struggles with mental health, and tells the story of two writers in the same town.

He said he had no awareness of class until he started doing stand up - and was dismissed as a 'ned'.

Bridges added: “Just because somebody speaks like me doesn’t mean they are stupid.

“When I started out in comedy in 2004 there was a lot of ‘he’s just a ned.’ "Comedy I would say was fairly middle class.

"It was a kind of student thing and was something you done in the evenings after uni classes or whatever.

“I never knew I was working class until I started stand-up.

"I just thought everybody else was like me.”