Fleming's an old punk and the work has the same edgy enthusiasm. He misses notes all over the place, but the momentum of the whole thing carries on regardless. At times it reminds you of a giant, rambling fanzine (right down to the collage on the opening page). There's enough boozing, shagging, drugging, puking and boxing to keep anyone entertained. And then there's some more boozing.

Issues? The sheer weight of all the pop cultural references gets too much – while it works in letting you know where we actually are at any given point, the sheer number of bands, songs, albums, films and gigs gets too much. Mark E Smith could almost have a whole chapter to himself. It's entertaining at first but it starts to grate after a while. The Clash gig in particular reads more like a review than part of a characters existence. Armstrong knows too much because he was there and it's all a bit too self concious and referential at times. If you're about my age it'll probably all be familiar stuff, right through to the Stone Roses and the acid house thing.

And the most successful chapters are the pieces where Fleming is writing outwith his own experience. An imagined Street fight in the 50's Gorbals is just a fantastic piece of writing. The narrative stays in the past tense, but it seems to jump into the present compared to Armstrong's recollections. And a few of the chapters would work well as short stories by themselves.

But over the piece and despite it's flaws, this novel works. The sheer enthusiasm and punch is enough to make you keep going. There's an endearing, idiotic positivity about the central character which keeps you engaged through the relentless struggle. It's funny at times, too, but can never be hilarious.

Chipmunka publishes work by and about writers who have had mental health issues, and that's a great thing. But Fleming also has something exciting going on when he gets out of that space. This feels like a debut novel, an outburst of pent-up energy and experience. Particularly in the quieter parts, away from the overdone description and analysis, there's some genuine talent at work.

Another small triumph for interesting stuff. Stick that Gordon Ramsay book on Ebay, you can get this for a fiver at Chipmunk Publishing. And I bet they won't spend the cash on poppers.