Chris Brookmyre

Prolific author on writing with his wife, daring ideas and laughter at mealtimes

You’ve produced 27 books in more than a quarter of a century. How do you keep coming up with the ideas?

, have always used my writing to reIleFt on the diIIerent things ,ʌm going through at eaFh stage oI my liIe So Ior instanFe , wrote $ %ig %oy 'id ,t $nd 5an $way to proFess the shoFN to the system that is parenthood and my most reFent novel The &liII +ouse was written in response to the pandemiF ,t was my way oI dealing with the sense oI isolation Foming to terms with not seeing muFh oI Iriends and Iamily and asNing myselI Tuestions about the nature oI Iriendship

You also have the successful Ambrose Parry series with your wife, Marisa Haetzman (a former hospital consultant). What are the highs and lows of working with your other half?

:e donʌt Must worN together on the $mbrose 3arry booNs we also worNshop the ideas Ior my solo novels too and are able to Fome up with more Fomple[ stories as a result oI pooling our Freative resourFes 0y ne[t booN The &raFNed 0irror is the most Fomple[ novel ,ʌve ever written ,t basiFally asNs what would happen iI someone liNe 0iss 0arple and someone liNe +arry %osFh ended up having to worN together , Fouldnʌt have taNen it on without having 0arisa as a sounding board to help me get the idea straight in my head

How much do issues in the wider world influence your writing?

)or most oI my Fareer , have been drawing upon Furrent aIIairs Ior inspiration ,tʌs FathartiF to Fhannel your anger about politiFs into something Freative , used to do it in a more head on style with booNs suFh as 4uite 8gly 2ne 0orning and %oiling $ )rog whiFh dealt with overtly politiFal themes %ut now , tend to Fome at it sideways 0y novel The &ut was my way oI dealing with my anger at the stupidity oI %re[it $s well as being a love letter to Europe it was also about a woman who had lost deFades to a misFarriage oI MustiFe and it depiFted how she was learning to enMoy the liIe sheʌs got leIt rather than being Fonsumed by anger at what she has lost

Your son, Jack, has a degree in film and TV studies along with philosophy. Have you any ambitions to involve him in your work?

2ur sonʌs main area oI ambition is stand up Fomedy so he FonFentrates his writing eIIorts on material Ior the stage +eʌs doing several slots at the *lasgow &omedy )estival this month but , do oFFasionally use him to test my own worN

Why is humour important in your novels?

, grew up in a house where humour was an ever present attitude and where , learned that there are very Iew things in liIe that Fannot be laughed about The more seriously a person or institution taNes themselves the less seriously , Fan taNe them and that has always inIormed my writing )amily meals are the times , laugh most , thinN itʌs where my sonʌs FomediF instinFt tooN root

With awards under your belt and a fan base that includes Stephen King, what is there left to achieve?

I grew up in a house where humour was ever present

0arisa and , have written sFripts Ior television adaptations oI The &ut and $mbrose 3arryʌs The :ay oI $ll )lesh both oI whiFh are in development with *lasgow based produFtion Fompanies )ilm and television really is the Irontier , have not FonTuered so , would love to see sFripts that 0arisa and , have written Fome to liIe on the small sFreen