Iain Banks wrote an impressive 27 novels in his career as a novelist, a career that earned him a number of awards and high praise across the world. His first novel, The Wasp Factory, was published in 1984 and in a 1997 poll was named one of the top 100 novels of the Twentieth Century. He has gone on to write both commercial and science fiction titles, the latter written under the name Iain M Banks (the 'M' standing for his adopted middle name, Menzies).
In April 2013, Banks wrote a moving note to his fans via his website announcing that he had terminal cancer. Unsurprisingly, Banks received a large wave of public support, which he was said to have been deeply moved by. The note, beautifully written of course, said that Banks was unlikely to survive a year but on 9th June, only two months later, his family released a statement to say that the Scottish writer had passed away.
Sadly, despite a big effort on the part of his publisher Little, Brown, Banks was not able to see the publication of his final novel, The Quarry, which will be published on 20th June 2013.
You can read Banks' eloquent letter here.
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