Over the course of Chuck Palahniuk’s book tour to promote his 2005 novel Haunted, more than 200 people fainted; the book features an ugly masturbation incident. Of the author’s 10 novels, Fight Club (1996) is his most well-known, adapted into a film starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. Palahniuk was born in 1962 in Washington State. A graduate in journalism from the University of Oregon, he worked for a local newspaper and as a mechanic before he was inspired at a writers’ workshop to change career. Palahniuk lives near Portland, Oregon.

Who is your perfect reader?

My US editor Gerald Howard. He has always understood my dark sense of humour.

What is the last thing you read that made you laugh out loud?

The Star Machine by Jeanine Basinger, about Hollywood stars. Veronica Lake has the best line in it. She says: “I wasn’t a sex symbol, I was a zombie.”

What book changed your life?

At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom by Amy Hempel showed me the lean quality of prose.

Do you have a daily writing routine?

I wake up and immediately read something in the tone of what I’m currently working on. Then I do manual labour for the rest of the day and scribble in notebooks as I go.

Where do you write best?

Outside. I’m unable to write the words down immediately, so I’m forced to rewrite them over and over in my mind.

Which literary character most resembles you?

Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby. He’s the person on the outside looking in, which is what I’m like as a writer.

Who are your literary influences?

Amy Hempel, Irvine Welsh, Denis Johnson.

What are you scared of?

Being buried alive.

How do you relax?

Drinking.

What would you go back and change?

I’d stop my mother smoking and my father going on the trip he was on when he was killed.

What are you most proud of writing?

The eulogy at my mother’s funeral.

How would you earn your living if you had to give up writing?

I’d be a gardener. I come from generations of farmers.

What does it mean to be a writer?

It means I have a socially acceptable addiction that I get paid to indulge in.

Chuck Palahniuk’s latest novel is ‘Pygmy’ (Jonathan Cape)