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Iain M. Banks

イアン・エム・バンクス

Ian M. Bankusu

Aliases: Iain Banks / Iain Menzies Banks
Pen Names: Iain Banks（Pen name used for mainstream fiction）

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
North Queensferry, Fife → Gourock → Edinburgh → Fife

Career

Occupations
Writer, Novelist
Active Years
1984-2013
Affiliations
Science Fiction Book Club (Acting Honorary Non-Executive Figurehead President Elect pro tem)
Memberships
Association for Scottish Literary Studies Honorary Fellow
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 1988 for The Player of Games (nomination), Arthur C. Clarke Award 1991 for Use of Weapons (nomination)

Education

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

Awards

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

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Consider Phlebas

1987 Science fiction 471 pages

First Culture novel depicting war between the Culture and Idirans.

utopiaartificial intelligencewar

The Player of Games

1988 Science fiction 416 pages

Culture citizen Gurgeh plays in a tournament on alien empire Azad.

gamesimperialismculture

Use of Weapons

1990 Science fiction 531 pages

Non-linear narrative about mercenary Cheradenine Zakalwe.

memoryredemptionviolence

The Wasp Factory

1984 Literary fiction 192 pages

Disturbing debut about Frank, a boy on remote Scottish island.

violencefamilyidentity

Excession

1996 Science fiction 448 pages

Culture Minds react to mysterious alien artifact.

AImysterydiplomacy

Bibliography

  • The Wasp Factory (1984)
  • Walking on Glass (1985)
  • The Bridge (1986)
  • Espedair Street (1987)
  • Consider Phlebas (1987)
  • Canal Dreams (1989)
  • The Player of Games (1988)
  • The State of the Art (1991)
  • Use of Weapons (1990)
  • The Crow Road (1992)
  • Complicity (1993)
  • Against a Dark Background (1993)
  • Feersum Endjinn (1994)
  • Excession (1996)
  • Whit (1995)
  • A Song of Stone (1997)
  • Inversions (1998)
  • The Business (1999)
  • Look to Windward (2000)
  • Dead Air (2002)
  • The Algebraist (2004)
  • Raw Spirit (2003)
  • 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
satiricalnon-linear narrativesdetailed world-building
Recurring Motifs
post-scarcity societysentient AIsutopia and dystopia

Health

  • Gallbladder cancer
    2013年
    Terminal illness announced in April 2013, ceased public activities, died June 2013

Legacy

Influential SF author of Culture series; legacy includes naming of SpaceX ships and asteroid after his works.

Academic Societies

  • Association for Scottish Literary Studies (Honorary Fellow)

In Popular Culture

  • SpaceX autonomous drone ships named after Culture ships (Just Read The Instructions, etc.)
  • Asteroid (5099) Iainbanks named in his honor

Quotes

  • Do me the honour of becoming my widow.
    Source: Proposal to wife after cancer diagnosis (2013)

Trivia

  • Full name Iain Menzies Banks; 'M.' used for SF works
  • Sold extensive car collection for environmental reasons, switched to hybrid
  • Supporter of Scottish independence
  • Called for cultural boycott of Israel