Filth is a novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by Scottish

Scottish people

The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...

 writer Irvine Welsh

Irvine Welsh

Irvine Welsh is a contemporary Scottish novelist, best known for his novel Trainspotting. His work is characterised by raw Scottish dialect, and brutal depiction of the realities of Edinburgh life...

. A sequel, Crime

Crime (novel)

Crime is a 2008 novel by Scottish writer Irvine Welsh. It is the sequel to his earlier novel, Filth.- Plot summary:Detective Inspector Ray Lennox is recovering from a mental breakdown induced by stress and taking drugs, and a child murder case back home in Edinburgh...

, was published in 2008.

Plot summary

The plot centres on Bruce Robertson, a Scottish police officer. He is a sex-obsessed, misanthropic man driven by intense hatred. He is a cocaine

Cocaine

Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...

 addict with a penchant for "the games" — Bruce's euphemism

Euphemism

A euphemism is the substitution of a mild, inoffensive, relatively uncontroversial phrase for another more frank expression that might offend or otherwise suggest something unpleasant to the audience...

 for the myriad foul plots he hatches directed at workmates — and sexual abuse

Sexual abuse

Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...

 of the women in his life. The novel begins with a murder, which is the case that Bruce Robertson is investigating; however, the natural evolution of the plot itself has little or nothing at all to do with the crime. The plot traces Bruce throughout his life, told from a first-person perspective. Through narrative devices such as the tapeworm he acquires, we get to explore the facets of Bruce's personality and learn about his past, through the various tedious police routines Bruce absconds from, his sexual endeavours eventually backfiring, and his various short or long-termed schemes and plots against his colleagues in order to raise his chances of gaining the hoped-for promotion to Detective Inspector.

In an example of a rather short-term scheme, at the police station's Christmas party Bruce first waits for a female colleague he calls "Size Queen" to get drunk, and then proposes a game in order to have sex with her.

A longer-term scheme, and also a major sub-plot, is the harassing phone calls Bruce directs at the wife of his friend, Clifford "Bladesy" Blades: Bunty Blades. By imitating the voice of British celebrity Frank Sidebottom

Frank Sidebottom

Christopher Mark Sievey was an English musician and comedian known for fronting the band The Freshies in the late 1970s and early 1980s and for his comic persona Frank Sidebottom from 1984 onwards....

 to call Bunty up and ask vulgar questions, Bruce manages to drive a wedge between her and "Bladesy". After ingratiating himself with Bunty by playing the role of a concerned friend, Bruce manages to trick Clifford Blades into imitating the selfsame voice in a message left to his answering machine, which serves to portray him as Bunty's perverted caller - which Bruce, of course, "reveals" to Bunty. Bruce enters into a purely sexual relationship with Bunty Blades after feigning romantic interest, whilst "Bladesy" is arrested.

Apart from the general malevolent scheming, along the way Bruce Robertson also seeks to satisfy his cravings for violence, drugs, sex, and pornography whilst happily voicing his racism, sectarianism

Sectarianism

Sectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political movement.The ideological...

 and misogyny and pining for his ex-wife.

Eventually Bruce is forced into taking leave due to injuries he suffers while dressed as his ex-wife, leading to the revelation that he committed the racially-motivated murder that is the main plot, and that the colleagues he so despised — particularly his boss Bob Toal — knew of this, and were protecting him all along. The book ends with Bruce committing suicide in order to claim revenge on his divorced wife, Carole.

Language

Welsh's style of writing involves interpreting the Scottish accent

Scottish English

Scottish English refers to the varieties of English spoken in Scotland. It may or may not be considered distinct from the Scots language. It is always considered distinct from Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic language....

 into writing; the use of Scottish slang

Slang

Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...

, and dialectical

Dialect

The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...

 spelling to reflect the enunciation

Enunciation

In phonetics, enunciation is the act of speaking. Good enunciation is the act of speaking clearly and concisely. The opposite of good enunciation is mumbling or slurring. See also pronunciation which is a component of enunciation. Pronunciation is to pronounce sounds of words correctly....

 of the word (e.g. "tae" is "to", "dae" is "do"). Also, the protagonist makes use of rhyming slang, like in "Sherman tank" - wank

Masturbation

Masturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...

; Roger Moore

Roger Moore

Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...

 - hoor, and so on.

Themes

In Filth, Welsh deals with freemasonry

Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

, drug abuse

Drug abuse

Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...

, sexism

Sexism

Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...

, discrimination

Discrimination

Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...

, racism

Racism

Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

, pornography

Pornography

Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...

, prostitution

Prostitution

Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...

 and alcohol abuse

Alcohol abuse

Alcohol abuse, as described in the DSM-IV, is a psychiatric diagnosis describing the recurring use of alcoholic beverages despite negative consequences. Alcohol abuse eventually progresses to alcoholism, a condition in which an individual becomes dependent on alcoholic beverages in order to avoid...

, among other problems faced by the Scottish working class

Working class

Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...

.

Carole

Carole, Bruce's ex-wife and the mother of his child, Stacey, is a device Welsh uses to reflect an outsider's view of Bruce Robertson's character; certain chapters only involve Carole's inner monologue related to Bruce. It later transpires that it is, in fact Bruce fantasising while dressed as Carole.

The Tapeworm

At a certain point in the book, the narrative starts to be interrupted by a tube-like structure that appears on top of the text, and at first is only made of the word "eat" being repeated amid the zeros that fill the empty space within the tube. It is later revealed that this is actually the thoughts of the tapeworm growing inside Bruce's intestines.

At first, the tapeworm only encourages Bruce to eat. Later, after becoming self-aware (and naming itself "The Self"), the tapeworm starts to ask basic existential

Existentialism

Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...

 questions and names Bruce as "The Host". It also stumbles upon the existence of other worms (collectively named by the initial worm as "The Other").

The tapeworm's monologue, towards the end of the story, is used to explain the way Bruce turned into the person presented in the book; explaining the events of his past, producing monologue about Bruce's true feelings, and completing the cycle of his life with him.

An example of what is revealed about Bruce by the worm is that Bruce grew up in a housing scheme (ironic as he often expresses his hatred for "schemies" throughout the book), his first love (a girl named Rhona), and that Bruce killed his younger brother, Stevie Robertson, by aiding the collapse of a mountain of coal, burying Stevie.
Another example, that relates back to an earlier point in the book, where Bruce and Ray Lennox visit the home of "Ocky", telling him the story of "The Beast" - a prisoner in HM Prison Saughton

Saughton

Saughton is a suburb of the west of Edinburgh, Scotland, bordering on Sighthill, Longstone, and Stenhouse. In Scots, a "sauch" is a willow...

, kept in solitary confinement for his and others' safety - in order to intimidate him for information. It is thus revealed by the worm that "the Beast" is in fact Bruce's father, having raped Bruce's mother.

Film adaptation

A film adaptation of Filth is currently underway and is currently scheduled for release in 2012. It is to be directed by Jon S. Baird, from a script he co-wrote with Irvine Welsh.
The film is currently in pre-production, with filming set to commence in January 2012.
As of 20 October 2011, all current cast members are credited, including British actors Jamie Bell

Jamie Bell

Andrew James Matfin "Jamie" Bell is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Billy Elliot , King Kong , Hallam Foe , Jumper , Defiance , The Eagle and The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn .- Early life :Bell was born in Billingham, in the Borough of...

, Gary Lewis

Gary Lewis (actor)

Gary Lewis is a Scottish actor. He has had parts in Billy Elliot, Gangs of New York, Eragon and Three and Out, as well as a major role in the television docudrama, Supervolcano.-Early life:...

, James McAvoy

James McAvoy

James McAvoy is a Scottish stage and screen actor. He made his acting debut as a teen in 1995's The Near Room and continued to make mostly television appearances until the early 2000s. His notable television work includes State of Play, Shameless, and Frank Herbert's Children of Dune...

, Alan Cumming

Alan Cumming

Alan Cumming, OBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actor, singer, writer, director, producer and author. His roles have included the Emcee in Cabaret, Boris Grishenko in GoldenEye, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United, Mr. Elton in Emma, and Fegan Floop in the Spy Kids trilogy...

 and Martin Compston

Martin Compston

Martin Compston is a Scottish actor and former professional footballer. He is perhaps most notable for his role as Liam in Sweet Sixteen, and for his role as Ewan Brodie in Monarch of the Glen.- Biography :...

; all with their respective roles for the film. Some of the casting is as follows:
James McAvoy will play the leading role of Bruce Robertson, with Jamie Bell as his mentee-cum-sidekick, Ray Lennox.
Alan Cumming will play Bob Toal, Bruce's superior officer.
Actress Imogen Poots

Imogen Poots

Imogen Gay Poots is an English actress, best known for playing Tammy in the 2007 film 28 Weeks Later, Prue Sorenson in the 2010 remake of the controversial TV drama Bouquet of Barbed Wire and as Jean Ross in the BBC's Christopher and His Kind.-Early life:Poots was born in Hammersmith, London,...

 will be playing Amanda Drummond, a colleague of Bruce's.
Toby Jones

Toby Jones

Toby Edward Heslewood Jones is an English actor.-Early life:Jones was born in Hammersmith, London, the son of actors Jennifer and Freddie Jones...

will play Clifford 'Bladesey' Blades, Bruce's apparent friend.