His reputation can be summed up by the title of one of his books of short stories, ‘Notes of a Dirty Old Man’. Bukowski spent his formative years working menial jobs or on the street after his early attempts at being a writer were rejected by various editors. He is quoted as saying he gave up this dream to ‘just concentrate on drinking’ which is most definitely what he did for the next ten years, binging his way across America.

After nearly dying of an alcohol-induced ulcer he made the decision to start writing again but also continued to drink, using his experiences of the street and its sleazy bars to fuel his stories. It worked for him this time though and he went on to write 6 novels and over 30 books of poems and short stories, ending up in a house with a swimming pool and driving a BMW. He also went on to write the script for the film Barfly, an account of his younger days, where he was played by Mickey Rourke. That’s when you know you’ve made it as a top drunk!