Iain M. Banks

Iain Banks was a highly acclaimed Scottish novelist, born in 1954 and sadly passed away in 2013. He is known for his exceptional work in both regular literary fiction and science fiction. To distinguish between his two genres, he used his middle initial 'M' when writing science fiction, under the pen name Iain M. Banks. He is widely recognized for his celebrated series of science fiction novels, 'The Culture'.

Banks was educated at the University of Stirling, where he studied English Literature, Philosophy and Psychology. He lived in London and the south of England until 1988, when he returned to Scotland, living in Edinburgh and then Fife. He was married to Annie in Hawaii in 1992, but they later separated in 2007. Banks lived most recently in North Queensferry, a town on the north side of the Firth of Forth near the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge.

His works have been adapted for television and film. 'The Crow Road' was turned into a 1996 television miniseries, 'Complicity' became a film in 2000, and a television series called 'Stonemouth' was based on his novel.

Banks was a prominent figure in left-wing politics and was a signatory to the Declaration of Calton Hill, which calls for Scottish independence. He was a vocal critic of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and even cut up his passport and posted it to 10 Downing Street in protest. His political views and concerns often found their way into his novels, such as 'Raw Spirit' and 'The Steep Approach to Garbadale'.

In 2013, Banks revealed that he had late-stage cancer and unfortunately passed away the following June. His last novel, 'The Quarry', was published in June 2013, as he had announced earlier that year.