Banks, Iain. (b. 1954).

W o r k

- writes literary fiction as Iain Banks and science-fiction as Iain M. Banks

L i t e r a r y  F i c t i o n :

- characterized by restraint style, swift pace, mordant wit, attention to detail, and sense of the contemporary

- explores Gothic themes, anti-Thatcherite politics, popular culture, and technology

- typically concerned with extremes of behaviour through which he examines questions of mortality, morality, and religion

- enjoys playing games with his readers: uses cinematic-style flashbacks, leaps in temporal perspective, multiple points of view, etc.

- often unsettles the reader's assumptions about his protagonists: uses sudden revelations causing a complete re-evaluation of everything that has gone before (e.g. The Wasp Factory)

The Wasp Factory (1984):

- the story of a 16-year-old multiple murderer obsessed with rituals

- the narrator dismisses his murders as 'a stage I was going through'

- concludes with the protagonist's revelation that he is not an incomplete male, but a complete female

The Bridge (1986):

- consists of complex dreams of a coma patient, dominated by a bridge

The Crow Road (1992):

- centres on a student negotiating sex, drink, and death in the midst of a wealthy eccentric Scottish family

Complicity (1993):

- set in Scotland, follows a journalist's revelation of white-collar crime and corruption among the upper-classes

S c i e n c e - F i c t i o n :

- vast sagas exploring a technological and a political vision through the utopian organization called 'Culture'

Consider Phlebas (1987), The Player of Games (1988), Feersum Endjinn (1994), and others