Man And Wife by Tony Parsons, is published by HarperCollins, price £16.99, out now

Tony Parsons enjoys a rant. And, judging by his chequered past of clubbing, taking drugs and sleeping with a lot of women, he also enjoys a rave. Or at least he used to.

But the former punk rock journalist-turned-bestselling-author of heart-rending, touching novels including Man And Boy - which was turned into a TV series - no longer seeks the dangers in life he once did.

The drug-taking days of the '70s when Parsons was a punk chronicler on the New Musical Express are long gone. He hasn't taken a drug since his early 20s, doesn't drink much, gave up smoking 40 a day when his father died of lung cancer and is a Kung Fu enthusiast.

For the last ten years this working class columnist who can spark controversy with a flick of his pen has remained with the same woman, his Japanese wife, Yuriko, and says he has never been unfaithful to her.

His latest novel, Man And Wife, is a sequel to Man And Boy and sees our hero Harry Silver's life becoming ever-more complicated as he juggles his second marriage, son and stepdaughter, ex-wife and her husband.

The books have made him a mint - but family is more important to Parsons than material possessions, he insists.

Parsons was in no hurry to have a baby with Yuriko because he didn't want his son Robert, now 22 (whom he had with Julie Burchill), to feel pushed out.

"I never wanted him to feel like he was second best. I couldn't be happier that I've got a daughter now. I'm walking on air. But there were years when I didn't want it, when he was nine, 13, 15. It's worked out pretty well."

His first marriage to Burchill, whom he met while working on NME, has been well documented. She walked out on him and Robert, who was four at the time.

The pair have both sniped at each other over the years through the press, but it's something Parsons says he has now laid to rest.

"There's no vitriol on my part. If you can find me one reference to Julie in my Mirror column which I've been doing for six years, I'll give 50 grand to the charity of your choice.

"I'm not feuding with anybody. I don't get why we still get lumped together. We split up in 1984 - it's almost 20 years ago."

"Bobby is 22 now. He grew up without a mum and there's nothing that I can do or say that will get that time back, so it's all academic."

Robert went to live with his mother for a short time when he was in his late teens, but Parsons is reluctant to elaborate.

"He stayed for about five minutes," he says dismissively. "I don't know what happened to the pair of them. I wasn't there. It didn't work out and it didn't surprise me at all. The subject bores me to tears."