Tilt [Paperback]

Bahlaj brings a detached humanity to some seriously disturbed goings on in the kingdom of Fife, where the main character is a rent boy and no-budget porn star.

An impressive debut, which takes us behind the scenes in a world of sex, sleeze and psychic disorder.. Bahlaj covers it superbly.

Tili is the only survivor of numerous novels written by Iain Bahlaj. His first novel, completed when he was eight years old, was rejected by Ladybird. (They said it was too short.) Bahlaj gave up writing for eleven years, and since then has had shorts stories published in various collections and magazines. Tilt is also too short to be a proper book, but publishers Pulp Books were glad to make an exception.

The phone wakes me up and sunlight almost blinds me. I shield my eyes, and it's my father talking.
      'Would you like to come over, Scott?' he says in his polite voice, but trying his best to sound natural.
      'Nah, I'm busy, Dad,' I say. 'I mean, I told Dave that I would maybe see him today to help him work on his car.'
      'Well I'll come over then,' he says. 'I'll give you a hand.'
      'Nah, I'll be out,' I tell him. 'You'd better not.'
      This goes on for a few minutes, and he starts to get annoyed, which makes me nervous, and I imagine how his face looks. I keep imagining Louise standing next to him, encouraging him to try, maybe saying things like 'ih's yir son', since she talks to my father like she really talks. In the end I give in and tell him I'll be over.
      Then I realise that I don't know the day, so I ask him. This annoys him.
      'It's Sunday,' he tells me. 'Sunday.'
      I say 'Mass' and then 'bye' and I put the phone down and try to shut my eyes but when I do the dream becomes clear and precise and an energy seems to be growing in my arms but I can't fight it.
      So I light a Marlboro and the early morning nicotine makes me light headed.