A different kind of cool

A Scottish daily newspaper once captioned a picture of author Alexander McCall Smith with the word "uncool" in an article about his bizarre friendship with rock star Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers fame. The 61-year-old of the bestselling No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series may not be the "coolest" man on the block but he is regarded as one of the warmest and funniest people plying the literature festival circuit, his recent appearance at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature (EAFL) being no exception.

The Zimbabwean-born Scottish writer had his audience in raptures with excerpts from his novels and tales of life in Edinburgh and his childhood in what was then Southern Rhodesia.

McCall Smith said: "It does seem to me there are some interesting things happening on the literary scene in Dubai and elsewhere across the UAE. The EAFL presents a very good opportunity for both writers from the Arab world and beyond to meet. The festival's Education Day was also a terrific idea. I paid a very interesting visit to the Rashid School for boys and really enjoyed it. Many of the pupils had read my children's books and we had a very good time together."

It would be very difficult to dislike McCall Smith. He has a rambunctious, affable nature and is quite happy to flit between topics — from his childhood in Africa to his role in the Really Terrible Orchestra to that friendship with Flea. His nature is reflected in the tone and language of his prose, which exudes a feeling of comfort and warmth among readers.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series, about Botswana's first female private detective, is arguably his most recognised work. It was adapted for television following a successful pilot episode directed by Anthony Minghella.

Among McCall Smith's other prominent works is 44 Scotland Street, a fictional account of life in an Edinburgh tenement block viewed through the eyes of 20-year-old Pat MacGregor and those who feature prominently in her life, including flatmate Bruce, a narcissistic lawyer, and Domenica MacDonald, a neighbour with an exaggerated, romantic view of the world.

"I have got quite a number of things on my plate at the moment. I am working on volume seven of the Isobel Dalhousie series, The Sunday Philosophy Club, and I have just finished the sixth volume of 44 Scotland Street. I have also been writing an online daily novel for The Telegraph website, called Corduroy Mansions. I am writing about three or four books a year, which is breaking all the rules of publishing. The rule of publishing is one book a year but I break that very badly. I am a serial offender," McCall Smith said. "I have got different voices for different series. So, I have got a voice for 44 Scotland Street and another for The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency. I just have to remember where I am, and, generally speaking, I manage to do that. It is actually nice to have a number of different fictional universes in one's mind and one can pop in and out of those universes as you go along."

McCall Smith's depiction of life in Zimbabwe and Edinburgh contains many nuances and idiosyncrasies that people from those places can relate to. But McCall Smith has his own Edinburgh, a very different city from the one portrayed by other Scottish authors, most notably Irvine Welsh.

"If you look at any city it is composed of all sorts of elements. Edinburgh is a combination of the world of Ian Rankin, Irvine Welsh and indeed the world that I portray. They are all there and I think it would be a mistake to say that Edinburgh is just one of those worlds," he said. "I have no problem with a varied portrayal of Edinburgh. Generally, it is an intellectual city and social statistics will back that up. It is a predominantly white-collar knowledge-based economy, which gives it a particular feel. It is not a gritty, industrial city and it never really has been that."

Homage to hospitality

"I could not set a novel in Dubai because you've got to know a place before you start to write about it. I always mention places that I have been in so you can count on one of my characters referring to Dubai in the future and it will be a very favourable mention.

Somebody will say something nice about Dubai because I think the people are very welcoming and very hospitable, so I would like to try and repay that by ensuring one of my characters makes a nice remark about the city," McCall Smith said.

But what about that friendship with Flea that led to the uncool tag? McCall Smith explained that his photo, along with the caption "uncool", was placed alongside Flea's picture, which was accompanied by the caption "cool", by the newspaper in question as it attempted to highlight a most unlikely acquaintance.

McCall Smith said: "We first met at a lunch in Beverly Hills in California. Around one year later the Red Hot Chilli Peppers performed at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh. Flea got in touch but unfortunately I could not go because I had another engagement. However, my daughter and her friend went and the band were so good to them. They took them out to dinner and gave them seats at the side of the stage. Everyone thinks it is a strange and odd friendship."

A jovial McCall Smith seems unperturbed by the "uncool" tag as he has gained a legion of fans who certainly think otherwise and surely there is something "cool" about being friends with the bass player of one of the world's biggest rock bands?