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Iain Banks

イアン・バンクス

Iain Banks

Aliases: Iain Menzies Banks
Pen Names: Iain M. Banks（Pen name used for science fiction works）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1954-02-16 （Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland）
Died
2013-06-09 （Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland） age 59
Nationality
Scottish, British
Languages
English
Religion
Atheism
Residence History
Dunfermline, Fife → North Queensferry → Gourock → Edinburgh → Fife

Career

Occupations
Writer, Author
Active Years
1984-2013
Memberships
Honorary Fellow of the Association for Scottish Literary Studies
Influenced By
Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Brian Aldiss, M. John Harrison, Dan Simmons
Influenced
Ken MacLeod, Charles Stross
Nominations
British Science Fiction Association Award (The Player of Games, 1988), British Science Fiction Association Award (Use of Weapons, 1990), Arthur C. Clarke Award (Use of Weapons, 1991)

Education

University of Stirling
English, Philosophy, Psychology
Degree: BA
Period: 1972-1975
Year of Graduation: 1975
Country: United Kingdom

Awards

Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis
1991
Work: The Bridge
Category: 外国小説
Organization: SF Association
Result: winner
Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis
1992
Work: The Wasp Factory
Category: 外国小説
Organization: SF Association
Result: winner
Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis
1993
Work: Use of Weapons
Category: 外国小説
Organization: SF Association
Result: winner
British Science Fiction Association Award
1994
Work: Feersum Endjinn
Organization: BSFA
Result: winner
British Science Fiction Association Award
1996
Work: Excession
Organization: BSFA
Result: winner
Premio Italia
2004
Work: Inversions
Category: 最優秀国際小説
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Wasp Factory

1984 Literary fiction

Shocking debut novel about a disturbed young man on a remote Scottish island.

ViolenceFamilyIdentity

Consider Phlebas

1987 Science fiction

First Culture novel set during a galactic war.

WarPosthumanismUtopia

The Player of Games

1988 Science fiction

Culture novel about a master gamer recruited for a game that determines empire rulership.

GamesCultureImperialism

Use of Weapons

1990 Science fiction

Culture novel with nonlinear narrative about a mercenary.

MemoryRedemptionWar

The Bridge

1986 Literary fiction

Story of a man in a coma experiencing dream-like worlds.

Reality and DreamIdentity

Bibliography

  • The Wasp Factory (1984)
  • Walking on Glass (1985)
  • The Bridge (1986)
  • Espedair Street (1987)
  • Consider Phlebas (1987)
  • The Player of Games (1988)
  • Canal Dreams (1989)
  • The State of the Art (1989/1991)
  • Use of Weapons (1990)
  • The Crow Road (1992)
  • Complicity (1993)
  • Against a Dark Background (1993)
  • Whit (1995)
  • Excession (1996)
  • A Song of Stone (1997)
  • Inversions (1998)
  • The Business (1999)
  • Look to Windward (2000)
  • Dead Air (2002)
  • Raw Spirit (2003)
  • The Algebraist (2004)
  • The Steep Approach to Garbadale (2007)
  • Matter (2008)
  • Transition (2009)
  • Surface Detail (2010)
  • Stonemouth (2012)
  • The Hydrogen Sonata (2012)
  • The Quarry (2013)

Adaptations

  • The Crow Road BBC TV series (1996)
  • Complicity film (2000)
  • Stonemouth BBC TV (2015)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
SatiricalDetailed world-buildingNon-linear narrativesDark humor
Recurring Motifs
Utopian societiesViolenceIdentity questsTechnology and humanity

Health

  • Gallbladder cancer
    2013年4月診断、末期
    Terminal, ceased public engagements, led to death

Legacy

One of the greatest modern Scottish writers, renowned for the Culture series influencing SF.

In Popular Culture

  • SpaceX drone ships named after Culture ships
  • Asteroid 5099 Iainbanks

Quotes

  • Death is an important part of the totality of life?
    Source: BBC Saturday Live (2011)

Trivia

  • Used separate names for SF (Iain M. Banks) and mainstream (Iain Banks)
  • Owned extensive car collection including Porsche and Jaguar, later sold for hybrids
  • Supported Scottish independence and cultural boycott of Israel
  • Asteroid named after him