Iain Menzies Banks writes mainstream novels as Iain Banks and science fiction as Iain M. Banks. He was born on February 16, 1954 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland; the son of a officer in the Admiralty and a mother who was once a professional ice skater. Banks studied English and Philosophy at the University of Stirling. Married in 1992, he lives currently in North Queensferry, a town on the north side of the Firth of Forth near the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge.
Politics
As with his friend Ken MacLeod (another Scottish writer of technical and social science fiction) a strong awareness of left-wing history shows in his writings. The argument that an economy of abundance renders anarchy and adhocracy viable (or even inevitable) attracts many as an interesting potential experiment, were it ever to become testable.
In late 2004 Banks was a prominent member of a group of left-leaning British politicians and media figures who campaigned to have Prime Minister Tony Blair impeached following the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. In protest he cut up his passport and posted it to 10 Downing Street.
Miscellany
Banks tends to write a novel in around three months, working solidly, then take nine months off. In his leisure time, he has had flying lessons and records his own rock music.
Although Banks generally confines his writing to his own novels, he has written occasional reviews for The Guardian newspaper and is a semi regular music reviewer for Marc Riley's Rocket Science radio show on BBC 6 Music. He has himself been the subject of South Bank Show television programme. He was the subject of a play, The Curse Of Iain Banks, written by Maxton Walker, at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1999, appearing as a voice on tape. He has appeared on the BBC TV's Question Time.
While a student at Stirling University, Banks appeared as an extra in the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which was filmed at the nearby Doune Castle. He was an extra in the final battle scene.
Bibliography
Mainstream novels
His mainstream novels are:
Science fiction novels
Much of his science fiction deals with a large pan-galactic civilisation, the Culture, which he develops in intricate detail:
His other, non-Culture, science fiction novels are:
Short fiction
Banks does not write much short fiction but has published one collection:
It contains both science fiction and mainstream writing. The title novella deals with the Culture, as do two other stories.
Nonfiction
External links
