My Secret Life: Alexander McCall Smith, novelist, 60

The home I grew up in ... was in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. My memories are more of the space outside than the house itself.

When I was a child I wanted to be ... a writer.

My greatest inspiration ... is a doctor in Botswana who has devoted his life to working for others. He is very modest, and helps the poorest of people and the greatest in the land, all with courtesy and respect.

The moment that changed me for ever ... I sent my first manuscript to a publishers when I was eight years old. They wrote back a very encouraging letter. Without that, I probably would have given up.

I ride/drive ... when at home I walk wherever I go. Edinburgh is a small city and most places are accessible by foot.

If I could change one thing about myself ... I'd have more time at home. Travelling around the world is something I enjoy very much, but there is nowhere quite like home.

At night I dream of ... I rarely dream and need very little sleep these days. I tend to get up around 4am, to write.

What I see when I look in the mirror ... One shouldn't spend too much time in front of a mirror after the age of 20. The reflection is always much older than one expects.

My style icon ... I'm certainly not influenced by fashion.

My real life villains ... are people with sloppy language habits, who don't articulate their words clearly, especially in call centres. Linguistic laziness is making it difficult for us to understand what our fellow citizens are saying.

The shop I can't walk past ... any of the shoe shops on Jermyn Street in London.

A book that changed me ... was 'Collected Short Poems' by W H Auden. It accompanies me on most of my journeys. Auden was a very great man and a marvellous poet. His words are a constant source of inspiration.

The last album I bought ... I haven't bought anything recently, but I do enjoy listening to 'Late Junction' on Radio 3.

The person who really makes me laugh ... is the great comic writer E F Benson, author of the Mapp and Lucia novels.

It's not fashionable but I like ... the television series, 'The Sopranos'.

My favourite work of art ... I am particularly fond of a pencil sketch by the Scottish artist, James Cowie, called 'Portrait of a Boy'.

My favourite item of clothing ... is a silk jacket I had made while in China. the workmanship is quite exquisite. And it was made in a single day.

You may not know it but I'm no good at ... playing in an orchestra. I play the bassoon in the Really Terrible Orchestra. I am a very bad bassoonist. We are playing in New York on 1 April, and are hoping for an audience!

You may not know it but I'm very good at ... cooking. Something simple like a very good rosemary risotto, for family and friends.

All my money goes on ... musical instruments, which I struggle to play. I also like buying paintings.

If I have time to myself ... most of all, I like to spend time with family and friends.

My house is ... pre-war, stone-built, and in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. We are fortunate enough to have a beautiful garden.

My most valuable possession is ... my laptop. It has my most recent novel on it and to me it is invaluable.

My favourite building ... is the National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, which is a splendid, eccentric building full of echoing galleries and nooks and crannies. I love the red exterior. This is a building which is crammed full of the ghosts of Scotland's past.

Movie heaven ... is 'Casablanca'. I have always remembered the scene in which Humphrey Bogart says: "I remember the day we met in Paris. It was the day the Germans invaded. You wore blue and the Germans wore grey." At least I think that is what he said!

I wish I'd never worn ... Many of my outfits are frowned upon by my daughters. They are not keen on my taste in clothes.

In 10 years' time, I hope to be ... healthy enough to be doing the same thing that I am now, but with slightly less travel and more time spent at home.

My life in six words ... extraordinary, surprising, fortunate, not yet over.

A life in brief

The writer Alexander McCall Smith was born in Zimbabwe in 1948. Most famous for his best-selling Botswana-based series The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, McCall Smith lives in Edinburgh with his wife and two children. He appears at the Bath Literary Festival, which runs until 8 March (bathlitfest.org.uk), and his latest novel, Tea Time for the Traditionally Built, published by Little Brown, is on sale now