Iain Banks
Pasi Välkkynen, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons · licence

BANKS, IAIN, 1954 to 2013

Iain Banks books in order

Iain Banks (1954-2013) was a Scottish novelist, author of The Wasp Factory and, as Iain M. Banks, the Culture science fiction series.

Also wrote as Iain M. Banks

Books
24
Editions tracked
35
First editions
24
Nationality
United Kingdom
Born
Dunfermline, 1954
Died
Kirkcaldy, 2013

Official websiteWikidataOpen LibrarySearch within Iain Banks

Iain Banks wrote 24 books we track between 1984 and 2012; in publication order they begin with The Wasp Factory (1984).

Life

About Iain Banks

Writer

Known as
science fiction writer, novelist, writer, philosopher
Genres
science fiction literature, fiction literature
Citizenship
United Kingdom
Also wrote as
Iain M. Banks

Background

Educated at
University of Stirling

Awards and honours

  • Tähtivaeltaja Award (1995)
  • BSFA Award for Best Novel (1994)
  • BSFA Award for Best Novel (1996)
  • honorary doctorate (2010)

From Wikidata (CC0); Wikipedia has articles on Iain Banks in 49 languages.

About Iain Banks

Iain Banks (1954-2013) was a Scottish novelist who wrote mainstream fiction as Iain Banks and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, best known for The Wasp Factory and the Culture series.

Iain Menzies Banks was born in Dunfermline, Fife, on 16 February 1954 and studied at the University of Stirling. He thought of himself mainly as a science fiction writer, but difficulty finding a publisher for that work led him to mainstream fiction, and The Wasp Factory came out from Macmillan in Britain on 16 February 1984. It divided critics on publication but later sold over a million copies. His other mainstream novels include Walking on Glass (1985), The Bridge (1986), Espedair Street (1987), The Crow Road (1992), Complicity (1993) and Stonemouth (2012).

His first published science fiction novel, Consider Phlebas (1987), opened the Culture series, a sequence of space operas about a post-scarcity interstellar society in which artificial intelligences called Minds play a central part. It continued with The Player of Games (1988), Use of Weapons (1990), Excession (1996), Inversions (1998), Look to Windward (2000), Matter (2008), Surface Detail (2010) and The Hydrogen Sonata (2012). He also wrote Raw Spirit (2003), a book about Scotch whisky. In 2008 The Times named him among the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. He announced in April 2013 that he had terminal gallbladder cancer and died in Kirkcaldy on 9 June 2013; The Quarry was published after his death.

For collectors. The Macmillan first edition of The Wasp Factory (1984) is a 184-page hardback with a jacket by Philip Mann (ISBN 0-333-36380-9) and is his first published novel. Consider Phlebas (1987), the first Culture novel, is the key science fiction title.

For collectors

Collect Iain Banks

Earliest first editionThe Wasp FactoryMacmillan, 1984 Most editions trackedConsider Phlebas2 editions
First published by
Series
Reading guide

Iain Banks books in order

In publication order

  1. 1The Wasp Factory1984
  2. 2Walking on Glass1985
  3. 3The Bridge1986
  4. 4Consider Phlebas1987
  5. 5Espedair Street1987
  6. 6The Player of Games1988
  7. 7The State of the Art1989
  8. 8Use of Weapons1990
  9. 9The Crow Road1992
  10. 10Against a Dark Background1993
  11. 11Complicity1993
  12. 12Feersum Endjinn1994
Show all 24 books in order
  1. 13Excession1996
  2. 14A Song of Stone1997
  3. 15Inversions1998
  4. 16The Business1999
  5. 17Look to Windward2000
  6. 18Dead Air2001
  7. 19The Algebraist2004
  8. 20The Steep Approach to Garbadale2007
  9. 21Matter2008
  10. 22Transition2009
  11. 23Surface Detail2010
  12. 24The Hydrogen Sonata2012

By series

Culture series 10 books
  1. Consider Phlebas 1987
  2. The Player of Games 1988
  3. Use of Weapons 1990
  4. The State of the Art 1989
  5. Excession 1996
  6. Inversions 1998
All 10 in order →
In order

First editions, year by year

  1. 1984The Wasp FactoryMacmillan
  2. 1985Walking on GlassMacmillan
  3. 1986The BridgeMacmillan
  4. 1987Consider PhlebasMacmillan
  5. 1987Espedair StreetHumanity Press/prometheus Bk
  6. 1988The Player of GamesMacmillan
  7. 1989The State of the ArtM.V. Ziesing
  8. 1990Use of WeaponsOrbit
  9. 1992The Crow RoadScribners
  10. 1993Against a Dark BackgroundOrbit
  11. 1993ComplicityLittle, Brown
  12. 1994Feersum EndjinnOrbit
  13. 1996Excession Hb D/bx12 and HeaderLittle, Brown
  14. 1997A Song of StoneAbacus
  15. 1998InversionsOrbit
  16. 1999The BusinessSimon & Schuster
  17. 2000Look to WindwardOrbit
  18. 2001Dead AirAbacus
  19. 2004The AlgebraistOrbit
  20. 2007The Steep Approach to GarbadaleLittle, Brown
  21. 2008MatterOrbit
  22. 2009TransitionOrbit
  23. 2010Surface DetailOrbit
  24. 2012The Hydrogen SonataOrion Publishing Group
Books and editions

Which edition do you have?

Questions collectors ask

Frequently asked questions

What order should I read Iain Banks's books in?

In publication order they begin with The Wasp Factory (1984), then Walking on Glass (1985) and The Bridge (1986). Books in a series are listed in series order on this page.

What was Iain Banks's first book?

The earliest book we list is The Wasp Factory, first published in 1984.

When was Iain Banks born?

Iain Banks was born in 1954 and died in 2013.

How many Iain Banks books does MyVolumes track?

We track 24 books by Iain Banks across 35 editions, 24 of them first editions.

What awards has Iain Banks won?

Iain Banks has won Tähtivaeltaja Award (1995), BSFA Award for Best Novel (1994), BSFA Award for Best Novel (1996), honorary doctorate (2010), according to Wikidata.

Did Iain Banks write under another name?

Yes: Iain Banks also published as Iain M. Banks. Those books are listed here under the one author.

Sources

Where these facts come from

Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 17 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.

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