You are about to listen to a BBC podcast and I'd like to tell you a bit about what goes into making one.

I'm Sadata Sese, an assistant commissioner of podcasts for BBC Sounds.

I pull a lot of levers to support a diverse range of podcasts on all sorts of subjects,

relationships, identity, comedy, even one that mixes poetry, music and inner city life.

So one day I'll be helping host develop their ideas, the next fact-checking, a feature,

and the next looking at how a podcast connects with its audience, and maybe that's you.

So if you like this podcast, check out some others on BBC Sounds.

BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts.

Hello, it's good to be back.

And today you find us at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in a hall packed with readers,

waiting to hear what good reads my guests will recommend. Both guests

are writers. Irvin Welsh burst onto the scene with his debut novel, Trainspotting, a massive

bestseller subsequently filmed by Danny Boyle. Since then, he's written 13 novels, most recently

this summer's Resolution, the latest in his highly praised crime series.

With Irvin is Andrew O'Hagan, the internationally award-winning author of seven novels,

including Mayflies, adapted a couple of years ago as a BBC TV drama,

and this year's Epic Caledonian Road.

Irvin Welsh, can I ask you to start?

What are you recommending as a good read?

Yeah, I recommended a book called Brian by Jeremy Cooper, who is a writer.

I think it's his only novel that he's published.

I think he's an art critic or something, you know, I believe.

...