Ian Rankin
Scottish crime writer
Fondly and down the centuries. I think partly what drives writers to write is the yearning for immortality.
What would you like to be remembered for?
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
What does love feel like?
Relationships
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
What is the worst job you have done?
Craft & work
Question
Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
Money & investment
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Originally asked
Vogue, to one guest at a time, on camera, 73 Questions
A recurring legacy prompt in Vogue's 73 Questions, appearing with only minor wording changes.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Kind, thoughtful and gave damn good advice.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 June 2025 source ↗
Others on this question
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Angus Deayton
English actor, comedian, presenter and writer
With the correct pronunciation of my name.
Richard Wilson
Scottish actor and theatre director
It’s up to them.
Gareth Bale
Welsh footballer
I only really care about my own opinion of myself, and my family and friends’ opinion of me. The rest is just noise.
More from Arlene Phillips
View profile →I play Classic FM in the car – emotional music brings me to tears thinking about people I’ve loved and lost.
Like you’ve got hot-water bottles all over you.
Carlos Acosta, for his incredible achievement in dance.
In a Dagenham factory at 6am, picking soldiers’ greatcoats from wars around the world to sell at the market in Chelsea. I smelled like mothballs, and no one would come near me.
A Biba dress when I really couldn’t afford it. It was every scrap of my money and I’ve never parted with it.
In school, I was 11, and we had to paint a picture of family life. My painting was held up to the class and I was told it looked like a spider with ink on its feet had walked across the page. It was done so viciously – humiliating.
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