Portal:Scotland/Selected article/Week 45, 2013

Iain Banks (16 February 1954 – 9 June 2013) was a Scottish author. He wrote mainstream fiction under the name Iain Banks, and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, including the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies (/ˈmɪŋɪz/ or "MING-iz"). Banks decided to become a writer at the age of 11 and completed his first novel The Hungarian Lift-Jet at 16. Following the publication and success of The Wasp Factory (1984), Banks began to write full-time. His editor at Macmillan, James Hale, advised him to write one book a year and Banks agreed to this schedule.

His parents had intended to name him "Iain Menzies Banks", but his father made a mistake when registering the birth and "Iain Banks" became his officially registered name. Despite this error, Banks continued to use his middle name and submitted The Wasp Factory for publication as "Iain M. Banks". Banks' editor enquired about the possibility of omitting the 'M' as it appeared "too fussy" and the potential existed for confusion with Rosie M. Banks, a romantic novelist in the Jeeves novels by P. G. Wodehouse; Banks agreed to the omission. Following three mainstream novels, Banks' publishers agreed to publish his first science fiction (SF) novel Consider Phlebas, released in 1987, marking the start of the popular The Culture series. To create a distinction between the mainstream and SF novels, Banks suggested the return of the 'M' to his name and the author's second title was consequently confirmed. His books have been adapted for theatre, radio and television; The Crow Road (1992) was adapted as a BBC television series and Espedair Street (1987) was broadcast on BBC Radio 4. In 2008, The Times named Banks in their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". In April 2013, Banks announced that he had inoperable cancer and was unlikely to live beyond a year. He died on 9 June 2013.