Under the skin of Ross O’Carroll-Kelly

Paul Howard has become one of the biggest names in modern Irish literature, selling almost two million copies of the acclaimed Ross O’Carroll-Kelly series, but success isn’t as easy as it looks

Paul Howard: ‘When I look back on [the early books], I think they’re satirical, but I’m not sure that they’re funny’ Pic: Bryan Meade

‘I said yes before I actually thought about it.” In the quiet bar of a Dublin hotel, Paul Howard is reminiscing about the moment he signed on to become the subject of We Need to Talk About Ross, the documentary that aired to acclaim earlier this month on RTÉ television.

“It was a really intense experience,” Howard says. “The documentary-maker Adrian McCarthy followed me around for around two and a half years. I ...