Iain Banks
Iain Banks was a Scottish author known for his versatility in writing across different genres, most notably science fiction and mainstream literary fiction. Born in North Queensferry, Scotland, he was influenced by his early surroundings, including the Forth Rail Bridge, which later featured prominently in his work. After completing his education at the University of Stirling, where he studied English literature, philosophy, and psychology, Banks worked various jobs before achieving success as a writer. His first published novel, "The Wasp Factory," was released on his thirtieth birthday and marked the beginning of his full-time writing career.
Banks distinguished himself by publishing science fiction under the name Iain M. Banks and literary fiction as Iain Banks. His diverse experiences in different occupations informed his writing and character development. Throughout his career, he became a regular presence at science fiction conventions and was recognized academically, receiving an honorary D.Litt. degree from the University of St Andrews in 1997. Banks's contributions to literature have made him a significant figure, admired for both his storytelling and his ability to bridge genres.
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Iain Banks
- Born: February 16, 1954
- Birthplace: Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
- Died: June 9, 2013
Biography
Until the age of nine, Iain Banks lived in North Queensferry, Scotland, giving him a good view of the Forth Rail Bridge, which he was later to make great use of in his novel The Bridge. His father was an admiralty officer and his mother was an ice skating instructor. Banks attended North Queensferry and Gourock Primary Schools, and Gourock and Greenock High Schools. His favorite subject at school was English, even when he was very young, and he always wanted to write fiction. He claims to have been heavily influenced by television series, especially U.S. crime series such as Highway Patrol and Perry Mason. He always read voraciously, mostly fiction. Writing fiction was something he did as a child, penning his first novel at the age of sixteen.
He read English literature, philosophy, and psychology at the University of Sterling, receiving his B.A. degree in 1975. While at Sterling he did a number of different vacation jobs, including hospital porter, estate worker, pier porter, road worker, dustman, gardener and a technician for British Steel, making use in his novels of the experience gained in all of these. After University, Banks worked as a Nondestructive Testing Technician in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1977. The next year he took a job with International Business Machines Corp. (part of IBM ) in Greenock, Scotland, as an expediter/analyst. In 1980, he moved to London, England, to work as a costing clerk with a large firm of lawyers, in his spare time writing science fiction novels which continued to be rejected by publishers. His first published novel, The Wasp Factory, came out on his thirtieth birthday. Due to its enormous success, he became a full-time writer. He moved out from London to live at Faversham in Kent, England. At that time he began attending science fiction conventions in Britain, which he continued to attend regularly.
Banks was notable as an author who managed to write fiction very successfully in several genres. From the beginning of his writing career, he alternated between science fiction novels (using the name Iain M. Banks) and literary or general fiction novels (using the name Iain Banks). Banks moved back to Scotland with his wife Annie in 1988, to North Queensferry in Fife, close to where he was brought up. In 1997, he was awarded an honorary D.Litt. degree by the University of St Andrews.