First printing

£12 plus shipping

*** pages. Approx. With a new introduction. 7"/170mm wide x 10"/240mm tall. Stock details tbc. Text set in Gill Sans, at the author's suggestion. Front cover photo by Ken Grant. Printed and bound in England. ISBN: 978-***

Includes reproduction of a woodcut of the author by Alasdair Gray.

SECOND EXPANDED EDITION DUE SUMMER/AUTUMN 2026

Reviews for the 2015 paperback edition:

"If James Kelman ever receives the Nobel Prize, his short fiction will have been an important part of his achievement. The wit and profundity (A Lean Third) contains will reward unlimited reading."
— The Independent

"Kelman has always been an artist, and a highly conscious one. Whatever the social content of his work, he also makes art for art’s sake. The tone of voice sounds unforced and natural, but is never exactly a transcript of spoken language. It is finely wrought, artificial as an Impressionist’s still-life. He is a master of the brief encounter between people who may never see each other again, or indeed have any desire to do so. He is a poet of transience, catching the passing moment as it wings its way out of sight."
— The Scotsman

Kelman’s reworked stories are an outstanding addition to an already stunning body of work."
— Post Magazine

"Tangerine Press has produced a beautiful reissue of Kelman’s third. Each tale has been updated by the author, who follows them with a long afterword on writing, collaborating and the pressure to conform that has dogged his career (those at the BBC are “guardians of High English Culture who will commandeer the very nails from your fingers and show amazement if you offer resistance”). Here are snapshots of Scots abroad, nightlife, chance encounters, the thrill and buzz and sadness of working-class life."
— New Statesman

"Kelman suffers perhaps, in the same way as Beckett and Joyce, by not being recognised for his humour. These stories are narrated by people at the bottom or on the periphery. The style is plain. Perhaps that inclines readers to expect grimness. Kelman is, in fact, a very funny writer. His angle of narration is amusing. It comes from being unable to take contemporary reality, or at least that inhabited by his narrators, entirely seriously. He gives it slant, as Emily Dickinson advised, but not merely oblique; he is disillusioned before he writes a word... Perhaps Kelman is more than just a literary genius."
— The Penniless Press

"These 18 stories are... the bare bones of a novel that was never written. The afterword, 3000 words of it, has been written especially for this very pleasing publication by Tangerine Press and even if you are not a devotee of the author's numerous works, feels like essential reading."
— The Sunday Herald

*For an indepth review/consideration of the book, please visit thi wurd website

James Kelman was born in Glasgow and remains a citizen of the city. His first book was a collection of short stories published in the USA in 1973 by a small indie press. His last collection was published in the USA in 2025 by a larger indie press. In between he has written novels, essays and other story collections.