Iain Banks
1 catalogued object connected to Iain Banks.
Biography
Person.
Photograph: TimDuncan. Existing colour adjustment by Dontworry.
CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons.
Iain Banks was a Scottish novelist who published literary fiction under his own name and science fiction as Iain M. Banks. Born in Dunfermline in 1954, he studied at Stirling University and worked in several jobs before the publication of The Wasp Factory in 1984 established his career. His novels combine narrative invention, dark humour and a sustained interest in power and human behaviour.
Consider Phlebas (1987) introduced the Culture, a technologically advanced, egalitarian society that became the setting for much of his science fiction. His other books include The Crow Road, Complicity and the whisky travelogue Raw Spirit. He was selected for Granta's Best of Young British Novelists in 1993.
Banks also participated in the Songbook project, which paired artists' and writers' musical selections with printed work and an exhibition at London's ICA in 1999. He died in 2013.
Reviewed 2026-09-06Selected sources
- Iain Banks — Official biographyBackground, two publishing names, major works, Culture, Granta selection, Songbook and life dates.