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Iain Banks

Iain M. Banks at 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, August 2005
Born Iain Menzies Banks
16 February 1954 (1954-02-16) (age 54)
Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
Pen name Iain M. The 63rd World Science Fiction Convention ( Worldcon) was called Interaction, and was held in Glasgow, Scotland 4&ndash8 August 2005 Glasgow (ˈglæzgoʊ is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom PortalCurrent events News collections and sources WikipediaNews collections and sources. Events 1249 - Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) Dunfermline (Scottish Gaelic Dùn Phàrlain is a town and former Royal Burgh in Fife. Fife ( Gaelic: Fìobha) is a Council area of Scotland, situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a Pseudonym adopted by an Author or their publishers to conceal their identity Banks
Occupation Writer
Nationality British
Writing period (1984-present)
Genres Science Fiction
Literary Fiction
Influenced
Official website

Iain Menzies Banks (born on 16 February 1954 in Dunfermline, Fife) is a Scottish writer. Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. Nationality is a relationship between a Person and their State of Origin, Culture, association Affiliation and/or Loyalty Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) A literary genre is a category of literary composition Genres may be determined by Literary technique, tone, Content, or even (as in the case of fiction Literary fiction is a term that has come into common usage since around 1970 principally to distinguish serious fiction (that is work with claims to Literary merit Ken MacLeod (born 2 August 1954 an award-winning Scottish Science fiction writer lives in South Queensferry near Edinburgh. Events 1249 - Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) Dunfermline (Scottish Gaelic Dùn Phàrlain is a town and former Royal Burgh in Fife. Fife ( Gaelic: Fìobha) is a Council area of Scotland, situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. A writer is anyone who creates a written work although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally as well as those who have written in many different forms He writes mainstream fiction as Iain Banks, and science fiction as Iain M. Banks.

Contents

Biography

Banks's father was an officer in the Admiralty and his mother was once a professional ice skater. The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Ice skating is Traveling on Ice with skates, narrow (and sometimes parabolic) blade-like devices moulded into special Boots A study Banks studied English, philosophy, and psychology at the University of Stirling. English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of Literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and The University of Stirling founded in 1967 in Stirling, Scotland.

His latest book is a science fiction (SF) novel in the Culture series, called Matter, published in January, 2008. The Culture is a Fictional anarchist, socialistic, and Utopian ref> The State of the Art - Banks Iain M Matter is a novel from Iain Banks, under the name Iain M Banks

Personal life

Iain Banks was educated at the University of Stirling where he studied English Literature, Philosophy and Psychology. He moved to London and lived in the south of England until 1988 when he returned to Scotland, living in Edinburgh and then Fife. Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow. Fife ( Gaelic: Fìobha) is a Council area of Scotland, situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland [1]

Banks met his wife Annie in London, before the release of his first book. They married in Hawaii in 1992. The State of Hawaii ( or həˈwaɪʔiː Hawaiian: Mokuāina o Hawaii) is a state in the United States located on an Archipelago in the [2] However, he announced in early 2007 that, after 25 years together, they had separated. [3] He currently lives in North Queensferry, a town on the north side of the Firth of Forth near the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge. North Queensferry is a village in Fife, Scotland, on the Firth of Forth, between the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge, The Firth of Forth ( Scottish Gaelic: Linne Foirthe) is the Estuary or Firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows For the nearby road bridge see Forth Road Bridge. The Forth Bridge is a cantilever Railway Bridge over the The Forth Road Bridge is a Suspension bridge in east central Scotland

In February 2007, Banks sold his extensive car collection, including a bottle green 3. 2 litre Porsche Boxster, a burgundy Porsche 911 Turbo, a 3. 986 The styling of the Boxster is due to former "Style Porsche" department head Harm Lagaay. The Porsche 911 (pronounced as Nine Eleven, Neunelfer is a Sports car made by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany 8 litre Jaguar Mark II, a 5 litre black BMW M5 and a daily use diesel Land Rover Defender whose power he had boosted by about 50%. The Jaguar Mark 2 (also known as Mk2 Mk 2 or MkII is a medium sized saloon car built during the 1950s and 1960s by the Jaguar company in Coventry England The BMW M5 is an ultra performance version of the BMW 5-Series Automobile made by BMW Motorsport The Land Rover Defender is a British four wheel drive Off-road utility vehicle Banks traded all of the vehicles for a Lexus RX 400h hybrid - since replaced by a diesel Toyota Yaris - and vowed in the future to fly only in emergencies. [4]

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. Ken MacLeod (born 2 August 1954 an award-winning Scottish Science fiction writer lives in South Queensferry near Edinburgh. 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. Post scarcity or post-scarcity describes a hypothetical form of Economy or Society, often explored in Science fiction, in which things such as Anarchism is a Political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which support the elimination of all compulsory Government, i Adhocracy is a type of Organization being antonymous to Bureaucracy. He was a signatory to the Declaration of Calton Hill, which calls for Scottish independence. The Declaration of Calton Hill was a declaration calling for an independent Scottish Republic. [5]

In late 2004, Banks was a prominent member of a group of British politicians and media figures who campaigned to have Prime Minister Tony Blair impeached following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair (born 6 May 1953 is a British Politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1 2003 was spearheaded by the United States, backed by British forces and smaller contingents from Australia In protest he cut up his passport and posted it to 10 Downing Street. A passport is a document issued by a national government which certifies for the purpose of international travel the identity and nationality of its holder In an interview in Socialist Review he claimed he did this after he "abandoned the idea of crashing my Land Rover through the gates of Fife dockyard, after spotting the guys armed with machine guns. The Socialist Review is the monthly magazine of the Socialist Workers Party (UK. "[6] He relates his concerns about the invasion of Iraq in his book Raw Spirit, and the principal protagonist (Alban McGill) in the novel The Steep Approach to Garbadale confronts another character with arguments in a similar vein.

Banks is an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society (see Quotations) and a Distinguished Supporter of the Humanist Society of Scotland. The National Secular Society is a British campaigning organisation which promotes Secularism, the separation of Church and State to make society fair for everyone The Humanist Society of Scotland (HSS is a Scottish organisation that promotes Humanist views

Names

Interviewed on Mark Lawson's BBC Four series, first broadcast in the UK on 14 November 2006, Banks explained why his novels are published under two different names. Mark Gerard Lawson (born April 11, 1962) is an English journalist broadcaster and author BBC Four is a BBC Television channel available to digital television ( Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable) viewers in the Events 1533 - Conquistadors from Spain under the leadership of Francisco Pizarro arrive in Cajamarca, Inca Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. His parents named him Iain Menzies Banks but his father made a mistake when registering the birth and he was officially registered as Iain Banks. Despite this he continued to use his unofficial middle name and it was as Iain M. Banks that he submitted The Wasp Factory for publication. The Wasp Factory was the first Novel by Scottish writer Iain Banks. However, his editor asked if he would mind dropping the 'M' as it appeared "too fussy". The editor was also concerned about possible confusion with Rosie M. Banks, a minor character in some of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves novels who is a romantic novelist. Rosie M Banks is a recurring Fictional character in the Jeeves and Drones Club stories of British comic writer P Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE (15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975 (ˈwʊdhaʊs was an English Comic novelist who enjoyed enormous popular success Reginald Jeeves is a Fictional character in the short stories and novels of P After his first three mainstream novels his publishers agreed to publish his first SF novel, Consider Phlebas. Consider Phlebas is a Military science fiction Novel by Scottish writer Iain M To distinguish between the mainstream and SF novels, Banks suggested the return of the 'M', although at one stage he considered John B. Macallan as his SF pseudonym, the name deriving from his favourite whiskies: Johnnie Walker Black Label and The Macallan single malt. A pseudonym is a fictitious alternative to a person's legal name (see Alias) Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky produced in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland. The Macallan is a Single malt Scotch whisky produced at Macallan Distillery near Easter Elchies House at Craigellachie in the Speyside region

Bibliography

Novels as Iain Banks

Novels as Iain M. The Wasp Factory was the first Novel by Scottish writer Iain Banks. Walking on Glass was the second Novel by Scottish writer Iain Banks. The Bridge is a Novel by Scottish author Iain Banks. It was published in 1986 Espedair Street is a Novel by Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 1987 Espedair Street was a four part BBC radio adaptation of the Iain Banks novel Espedair Street broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1998 Canal Dreams is a Novel by Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 1989 The Crow Road is a novel by the Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 1992 The Crow Road was a television Miniseries by BBC Scotland in 1996, based faithfully on the complex novel by Scottish novelist Gavin Millar (born 11 January 1938 in Clydebank, Scotland) is a Scottish Film director. Complicity is a Novel by Scottish author Iain Banks. It was published in 1993 Complicity (or Retribution in some markets is a 2000 Film based on the novel Complicity by Iain Banks. Gavin Millar (born 11 January 1938 in Clydebank, Scotland) is a Scottish Film director. Whit or Isis amongst the unsaved is a Novel by the Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 1995 A Song of Stone is a Novel by Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 1997 The Business is a Novel by the Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 1999 This article is about the novel Dead Air for other uses of the term see Dead air. The Steep Approach to Garbadale is a Novel by the Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 2007 Banks

Much of Banks's science fiction deals with a vast interstellar civilisation, the Culture, which he has developed in some detail over the course of seven novels and a number of short stories. The Culture is a Fictional anarchist, socialistic, and Utopian ref> The State of the Art - Banks Iain M The short story is a literary genre of Fictional Prose Narrative that tends to be more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction such

His other, non-Culture, science fiction novels are:

Short fiction

Banks writes less short fiction but has published one collection, as Iain M. Consider Phlebas is a Military science fiction Novel by Scottish writer Iain M The Player of Games is a Science fiction Novel by Scottish writer Iain M Use of Weapons is a Science fiction Novel by Scottish writer Iain M Excession, first published in 1996 is Scottish writer Iain M Banks ' fourth Science fiction Novel to feature The Culture This article is about the book by Iain Banks There is also a 1981 book of art with the same name by puzzle designer Scott Kim. Look to Windward is a Science fiction Novel by Scottish writer Iain M Matter is a novel from Iain Banks, under the name Iain M Banks Against a Dark Background is a Science fiction Novel by Scottish writer Iain M Feersum Endjinn is a Science fiction Novel by Scottish writer Iain M The Algebraist, a Science fiction Novel by Scottish writer Iain M Banks:

It contains both science fiction and less categorizable works of fiction. The State of the Art is a collection of short fiction mainly Science fiction, by Scottish writer Iain M The eponymous novella deals with the Culture, as do two other of the stories contained in this collection. A novella is a written, Fictional Prose Narrative longer than a Novelette but shorter than a Novel.

Non-fiction

Introductions

Banks has written a number of introductions for works by other writers including:

Contributions

Banks has contributed to a number of publications, including:

He was a semi-regular music reviewer for Marc Riley's Rocket Science radio show on BBC 6 Music. Marc "Lard" Riley is a British Musician, Alternative rock critic and radio DJ. He was the subject of a South Bank Show television programme broadcast on 16 November 1997, subtitled The Strange Worlds of Iain Banks, which concentrated on his mainstream work. The South Bank Show is an award-winning Television arts magazine show made by London Weekend Television, presented by Melvyn Bragg, broadcast Events 534 - A second and final revision of the Codex Justinianus is published Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar The Curse Of Iain Banks, a play written by Maxton Walker, was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1999, with Banks contributing as a voice on tape. The Edinburgh Fringe (officially the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, commonly just The Fringe) is the world’s largest Arts festival. He has appeared on the BBC's political discussion television programme Question Time. Question Time is a topical Debate Television programme in the United Kingdom, based on Any Questions?.

At the beginning of 2006 Banks captained a team of writers to victory in a special series of University Challenge: The Professionals on BBC2, beating a team of actors 185-105 (January 1, 2006), and then the 'news' team 190-45 in the final (January 2, 2006). University Challenge is a long-running British television quiz show, licensed and produced by Granada Television. New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 366 - The Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine River in large numbers invading the Roman Empire. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. He also won an edition of Celebrity Mastermind, taking "Malt whisky & the distilleries of Scotland" as his specialist subject on BBC1 on January 2, 2006. Mastermind is a British quiz show, well-known for its challenging questions intimidating setting and air of seriousness Events 366 - The Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine River in large numbers invading the Roman Empire. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

Quotes

IMB: " Good grief yes, heck, yeah, oh it's my secular heaven . . . Yes, I would, absolutely . . . I haven't done a study and taken lots of replies across a cross-section of humanity to find out what would be their personal utopia. It's mine, I thought of it, and I'm going home with it -- absolutely, it's great. " [10]

References

  1. ^ Banks, Iain (2003). Raw Spirit: In Search of the Perfect Dram. London: Century. ISBN 978-1844131952.  
  2. ^ "Author Banks and wife of 25 years to split", Scotsman, February 19, 2007. Events 197 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.  
  3. ^ Liz Hoggard. "Iain Banks: The novel factory", Independent, February 18, 2007. Events 3102 BC - Epoch (origin of the Kali Yuga. 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II Holy Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.  
  4. ^ Mark Macaskill and Robert Booth. "Bye-bye Porsches, says green convert Iain Banks", Times, February 25, 2007. Events 138 - The Emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius, effectively making him his successor Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.  
  5. ^ The Scottish Socialist Party "Rallying for a Republic", 9 October 2004
  6. ^ Socialist Review "Changing society, imagining the future", February 2008
  7. ^ New Scientist letter 19 November 2005
  8. ^ Contemporary writers
  9. ^ Secularism.org.uk
  10. ^ Banks interview at CNN, May 15, 2008

External links

Interviews


Persondata
NAME Banks, Iain
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Banks, Iain M
SHORT DESCRIPTION Scottish science-fiction novelist
DATE OF BIRTH February 16, 1954 (1954-02-16) (age 54)
PLACE OF BIRTH Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Events 768 - Carloman I and Charlemagne are crowned Kings of The Franks. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Events 1095 - The Council of Clermont, called by Pope Urban II to discuss sending the First Crusade to the Holy Land Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Cable News Network, usually referred to by its Initialism CNN, is a major English language Television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner guardiancouk, formerly known as Guardian Unlimited, is a British website owned by the Guardian Media Group. Events 1249 - Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) Dunfermline (Scottish Gaelic Dùn Phàrlain is a town and former Royal Burgh in Fife. Fife ( Gaelic: Fìobha) is a Council area of Scotland, situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain.
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