The bestselling non-stop book-producing machine Alexander McCall Smith, whose “No 1 Ladies Detective Agency” books appear in 46 languages, will be making his stop in Dubai again. Struck by the friendliness and courtesy of hosts and of the audiences at the first Emirates LitFest, the prolific, easy-to-read Scottish writer is buoyant about the week-long March event. “It was a wonderful literary festival,” says the 66-year-old Rhodesian-born literary phenomenon and renowned bioethicist reminiscing the “positive” experiences about Dubai.

“I am delighted to be returning. Some years ago, when I was still working as a university professor, I had a number of post-graduate students from Dubai and I remember them as very charming and courteous people.”

Writing at least four books a year — the force of nature behind The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency, 44 Scotland Street and The Sunday Philosophy Club, one of the things that make McCall Smith’s books so popular, besides subtle humour, is his brilliant focus on the mundane details. Benevolence, kindness, gratitude, pleasure in the everyday and the importance of community are recurring themes in his work.

“I enjoy observing human nature. I find that when I go to a restaurant, for example, I sit there wondering about what the history of all the other diners may be!”

And yes, there’s no question of him changing his tone. “People say why I don’t write about the distress of the world...I find that odd. I write about what I admire in others,” says the Edinburgh-based writer.

His vivid observation of the human condition has brought about nearly 100 books, he estimates, ranging from textbooks and children’s books to novels and five fiction series. He has written libretto about Anthony Blunt, the former Surveyor of the Queen’s Paintings who was belatedly exposed as a member of the Soviet spy circle in Britain, and radio plays as well.

No wonder, McCall Smith was one of six authors, including Joanna Trollope, Curtis Sittenfeld and Val McDermid, who were invited to take a “21st-century re-imagining” of Jane Austen novels — the Austen project — for the modern audience.

It took him only 30 seconds to say yes to the proposal of reworking the classic Emma and two months to write. “I particularly enjoy Austen for her sense of humour — her dry wit is superb,” he says, adding Austen is still relevant today because her lessons on money and love remain equally important 200 years on.

The writer best-known for his Botswana-set detective novels is “happy” with the new version of Emma, launched late last year. Though he has kept all the characters and the broad outlines of the plot, everything takes place in contemporary England — now, mobile phone-wielding Emma drives a Mini Cooper and has plans to establish her own interior decorating business.

Calling it one of his favourite recent projects, McCall Smith says, “I enjoyed rewriting Emma. I am happy with the result; I stuck fairly closely to the original plot but gave my particular view of it. Emma, who is what we might describe today as a real little madam, has to come to terms with social and psychological reality, but at the end of the day she survives the difficulties that she creates for herself. She finds happiness within the rules even if she has railed against them.”

Born to Scottish parents in what was then Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, McCall Smith did his schooling in Bulawayo, before enrolling at the University of Edinburgh, where he earned a degree in medical law. He later returned to Africa to help found a law school in Botswana and developed a great affection for its people. In fact, in 1999, Gaborone, capital of Botswana, became the setting of “The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency”, a 15-volume series that has sold many millions.

“I spent my childhood in Zimbabwe, but am out of touch with the country now. When I go to Africa these days I usually go to Botswana. The people of Botswana really are as kind and courteous as they are in my books.”

It was while visiting a friend in Botswana that he met the woman who would become Mma Ramotswe years later. “I went to stay with friends in Botswana,” he recalls, “and they took me to visit a woman who was going to give my friend a chicken... And I saw this woman... and began to speculate what her life had been.”

“I liked her so much that what started as a short story turned into a novel,” he says of protagonist Precious Ramotswe, the traditionally built proprietor of Botswana’s only detective agency.

He has also written the “Scotland Street” books, the “Isabel Dalhousie” novels, the “Corduroy Mansion” series, a couple of books featuring the German philologist Professor Maria-Moritz von Igelfeld, stand-alone novels such as called “The Forever Girl” — a curious tale about unrequited love, and an Alain de Botton-like account of his love for the poetry of W.H. Auden in 2013.

For more than 40 years this “wonderful and humane voice” of Auden has been his major literary enthusiasm.

Interestingly, all his books came after a high-flying academic career as a professor of medical law at the Edinburgh University. “I am no longer involved in any medico-legal activities and my time is fully taken up with my literary career now. I enjoyed my earlier career, but am very happy with what I am doing now.”

Considering his jam-packed travel schedule, it’s difficult to comprehend how McCall Smith, one of the biggest literary enterprises in the world, with 400 million books sold, manages to be so prolific. But he has it all sorted: starting a new Mma Ramotswe (The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency) book at the start of the year and an Isabel Dalhousie (“The Sunday Philosophy Club”) at the end of the year, with a Scotland Street book in the middle and maybe a couple of books that aren’t in a particular series in between.

“I keep quite a strict schedule for writing the books, because if I did not then I am afraid they would not ever get written! I generally write four or five books a year. I have just started writing the next Mma Ramotswe book, as well as the next volume in the “44 Scotland Street” series. I usually have one or two books on the go at the same time,” says McCall Smith.

While the rest of us contemplate the workday, early riser McCall Smith starts on maximum speed, polishing off 3,000 or 4,000 words a day. “I write best in the mornings — I often get up at 3am or 4am and write for a few hours ... it’s so peaceful and quiet.”

He says he can write anywhere, and especially productive on the aeroplanes that take him to readings and appearances all over the world.

A master of serialised novels, spinning interesting yarns year after year, McCall Smith says it’s the continued pleasure in the act of writing that keeps him going. “I think, it is also the pleasure in speaking to characters whom I have developed in previous books. Writing about a character is like sitting down with an old friend,” he adds.

So is there any favourite character?

“I am particularly fond of Bertie from the “Scotland Street” series, but I also enjoy the company of Mma Ramotswe and, of course, her wonderful sidekick, Mma Makutsi.”

Even sketching out a story arc for the characters is as simple as ABC for him. “It is not particularly difficult to work out what will happen to the characters. Often I find that things just turn up when I am writing the books.”

Not surprisingly, he finds it difficult to pick a book closest to his heart among the hundred he has written. “But I enjoy all of my different writings,” he says, recalling one of the strangest things he had done while researching for a book. “I was to go to a flotarium where you float in a flotation tank while listening to music. I used this experience to write about a flotarium in the ‘Scotland Street’ series.”

For the scarily productive author, who owns an uninhabited island in the Hebrides he had fallen in love with after enjoying a picnic on white-sanded beaches, life is a pleasurable mix of writing, travelling and sailing his yacht around the Caribbean. “When I am not writing I enjoy the company of friends and, in particular, I like to go sailing with friends and family. I am a keen sailor. I have to travel a lot for the books as well.”

And his next port of call is Dubai. “I do quite a number of book tours each year throughout the world. And I am very much looking forward to being back in Dubai.”

Suparna Dutt-D’Cunha is a writer based in Pune, India.

Alexander McCall Smith will take part in the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature to be held at InterContinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City, from March 3-7.