Iain M. Banks (1954–2013)
Author of Consider Phlebas
About the Author
Iain Banks was born in Fife in 1954 and was educated at Stirling University where he studied English Literature, Philosophy and Psychology. Banks came to widespread and controversial public note with the publication of his first novel, The Wasp Factory, in 1984. His first science fiction novel, show more Consider Phlebas, was published in 1987. He continued to write both mainstream fiction (as Iain Banks) and science fiction (as Iain M. Banks). Banks' mainstream fiction included The Wasp Factory (1984), Walking on Glass (1985), The Bridge (1986), Espedair Street (1987), Canal Dreams (1989), The Crow Road (1992), Complicity (1993), Whit (1995), A Song of Stone (1997), The Business (1999), Dead Air (2002) and The Steep Approach to Garbadale (2007). His final book, The Quarry, was released posthumously on June 20, 2013. Banks died on June 9, 2013 of terminal gall bladder cancer. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Disambiguation Notice:
There are multiple authors with the name Iain Banks. Do not combine this entry with any of them. The Iain Banks author entry is correctly split into sections for the different authors, and the books of Iain M. Banks listed there are included here by aliasing. You cannot combine this author page with just one of the split entries, it doesn't work that way.
Image credit: Author photograph from official website.
Series
Works by Iain M. Banks
The Culture, Books 1-3 (Consider Phlebas ∙ The Player of Games ∙ Use of Weapons) (2012) 73 copies, 2 reviews
The Culture, Books 1-9 (Consider Phlebas, The Player of Games, Use of Weapons, The State of the Art, Excession,… (2016) 61 copies
Personal Effects 3 copies
The Spheres 3 copies
Overload 1 copy
Trames Tome 8 1 copy
Culture Series 2 : 5 Books Collection Set By Iain M Banks (Inversions, Look To Windward, Matter, Surface Detail, The… (2021) 1 copy
The State of trhe Art 1 copy
The Culture Companion 1 copy
Associated Works
The Big Book of Science Fiction: The Ultimate Collection (2016) — Contributor — 447 copies, 7 reviews
Das Science Fiction Jahr 1994. Ein Jahrbuch für den Science Fiction Leser (1994) — Contributor — 10 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Banks, Iain M.
- Legal name
- Banks, Iain Menzies
- Other names
- Banks, Iain
- Birthdate
- 1954-02-16
- Date of death
- 2013-06-09
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- UK
- Country (for map)
- Scotland, UK
- Birthplace
- Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK
- Place of death
- Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, UK
- Cause of death
- Gallbladder cancer
- Places of residence
- North Queensferry, Scotland, UK
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK - Education
- Gourock High School
Greenock High School
University of Stirling (BA 1975) - Occupations
- writer
- Relationships
- Hartley, Adele (wife)
- Organizations
- National Secular Society
Humanist Society of Scotland - Awards and honors
- Guest of Honour, Eastercon, UK (1990)
Granta's Best Of Young British Novelists (1993)
Guest of Honour (posthumous), Loncon 3 (World Science Fiction Convention) (2014) - Disambiguation notice
- There are multiple authors with the name Iain Banks. Do not combine this entry with any of them. The Iain Banks author entry is correctly split into sections for the different authors, and the books of Iain M. Banks listed there are included here by aliasing. You cannot combine this author page with just one of the split entries, it doesn't work that way.
Members
Discussions
Group Reda, February 2022: The Crow Road in 1001 Books to read before you die (March 2022)
THE STATE OF THE ART discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (August 2015)
MATTER discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (June 2015)
SURFACE DETAIL discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (November 2014)
LOOK TO WINDWARD discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (October 2014)
THE HYDROGEN SONATA discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (October 2014)
INVERSIONS discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (September 2014)
EXCESSION discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (July 2014)
USE OF WEAPONS discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (May 2014)
The Culture group read (Organisational Thread) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (April 2014)
CONSIDER PHLEBAS discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (April 2014)
THE PLAYER OF GAMES discussion (The Culture group read) in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (March 2014)
September 2013: Iain M. Banks in Monthly Author Reads (January 2014)
Group Read: The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks in 75 Books Challenge for 2013 (August 2013)
Sad news: Iain Banks Very Poorly in Science Fiction Fans (August 2013)
Reviews
The Player of Games (Culture Book 2) by Iain M. Banks
It's a metaphor
I ended up caring more about the framework than the plot, doesn't happen often.
Lists
Five star books (1)
Best First Lines (1)
5 Best 5 Years (1)
Read in 2014 (1)
Null (1)
Teens (1)
BitLife (1)
United Kingdom (1)
BBC Big Read (1)
Jim's Bookshelf (1)
Finished in 2020 (1)
A Novel Cure (1)
First Novels (1)
BBC Big Read (1)
Overdue Podcast (1)
io9 Book Club (1)
SF Masterworks (1)
Unread books (2)
My TBR (2)
GeoCAT 2016 (1)
Books About Boys (1)
Greatest Books (1)
To Read - Horror (1)
Best War Stories (1)
Sentient ships (1)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 66
- Also by
- 15
- Members
- 87,230
- Popularity
- #122
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 2,035
- ISBNs
- 671
- Languages
- 24
- Favorited
- 274
