Welcome to the new-look Iain [M] Banks website. This website contains a wealth of information on the fiction of Iain Banks and the science fiction of Iain M Banks. New content is being added to the site on a regular basis. If there's anything you'd particularly like to see on the site, please contact the site editors and let us know.

Stonemouth – read the new Iain Banks novel before anyone else does

January 23rd, 2012 in Book News, UK-Specific

Stonemouth. Home to sea fog. Gangsters. Lost love. And a suspension bridge . . .

Iain Banks returns in April with his new novel - a dark, fast-paced and brilliant thriller that deals with adolescence, love and vengeance, and the perils of coming home.

We're very excited about it, and with less than three months to wait until Stonemouth is released on the 5th of April, the countdown to publication has well and truly begun. We have a limited amount of signed and numbered reading copies of Stonemouth to giveaway to 5 readers - all we ask in return is for the lucky recipients to let us know what they think of it once they've read it!

To win one of the copies, just fill in the form below and tell us why you'd like to recieve a proof copy. We'll choose the 5 best ones and put the winners names on the website. Once the winners have written their review, they can just send it to us and we'll post them here. The review can be as long or short as you like, though the more in depth the better. No spoilers though! For terms and conditions see here.

Good luck!

World Book Night 2012: "The Player of Games" selected

January 9th, 2012 in Book News, UK-Specific

After so many of you voted to see an Iain M Banks title on the World Book Night 2012 list, we were thrilled when it actually happened and The Player of Games made the final list of twenty-five titles.

World Book Night 2012 will be held on April 23, and they’re looking for 20,000 ‘givers’ to volunteer. These givers will have the opportunity to give away twenty-four copies each as a way to share their enthusiasm for The Player of Games.

Share your love for Iain’s books and The Player of Games by signing up as a giver. Simply register through the World Book Night website before February 1st, and select The Player of Games from the Book Choice drop down.

Interviewed by Albedo One

January 6th, 2012 in Book News

Iain M. Banks is interviewed by David Conyers for the feature piece in the latest issue of Albedo One, Ireland's longest-running magazine of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror.

For more information, or to order a copy of the magazine, head to the Albedo One website.

Iain Banks on BBC Radio 6 Music

November 22nd, 2011 in TV, Radio & Film, UK-Specific

This Sunday, 27th of November, tune in at 12pm to hear Iain Banks on BBC Radio 6 Music as he takes listeners through an hour of music as part of the BBC 6 Paperback Writers programme.

More information can be found on the BBC Radio 6 website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017pncn

Listen to Iain discussing 'Meet On The Ledge' by Fairport Convention from the show.

The Wasp Factory – Jim Naughtie's Radio 4 Book Club report

November 18th, 2011 in Book News

The Wasp Factory was featured on Jim Naughtie's Radio 4 Book Club last week, and Jim has written about his conversation with Iain on his Book Club blog.

"The book is a picture of disturbance, a kind of punk's-eye view of the world, which is a place of gothic horror and badness. Yet, as Iain told us, "Frank thinks he is relatively normal - it's as simple as that."

For the full report, see here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/radio4/2011/11/bookclub_the_wasp_factory.html

The Player of Games Audio Shortlisted for Galaxy Award

October 17th, 2011 in Audiobook News, Awards & Accolades, Global

The shortlists for the 2011 Galaxy Awards have been announced today, and The Player of Games, read by Peter Kenny, has been nominated for the Audible.co.uk Best Audiobook Award.

This year's awards will be announced on 4th November. In the meantime, The Player of Games is available as an audio download from Audible.co.uk, Audible.com (for US-based listeners) and the iTunes store.

Iain Banks Pens Charity Anthology Foreword

October 7th, 2011 in From the Author

Iain has asked us to pass on the following message:

"I'm patron of a local charity for victims of abuse called Safe Space. They've just brought out a booklet of writing by some of the survivors and I've written the foreword. The booklet costs £5.00, is called 'The Hope of Diamonds' and the address of Safe Space is St Margaret's House, 9 St Margaret's Street, Dunfermlines, KY12 7PE, or: contact@safe-space.co.uk."

More information about the charity can be found at their website: www.safe-space.co.uk.

Guardian Masterclass with Alan Spence and Iain Banks

October 6th, 2011 in Appearances & Events

A Guardian Masterclass writing course will be taking place in Edinburgh over the weekend of 12th - 13th November, 2011.

Writing tutor Alan Spence will be leading course attendees through a series of sessions designed to help aspiring writers hone thier skills. Guest tutor Iain Banks will be leading one of the sessions.

Tickets are £400 and there are only 15 places available. More details from www.guardian.co.uk.

The Wasp Factory, BBC Radio 4 Bookclub, Sunday Nov 6th

September 21st, 2011 in TV, Radio & Film, UK-Specific

The Banksoniain's David H informs us that:

"The Wasp Factory will be featured on the BBC Radio 4 programme Bookclub on Sunday November 6th (and repeated on the 10th). It was recorded in Edinburgh on Monday."

There's no scheduled programme information on the R4 Bookclub page just yet, so keep an eye out for confirmation nearer the time, or check the Bookclub iPlayer page after Nov 6th for online access.

Update: Scheduling Info as follows:

BBC Radio 4 Book Club with Jim Naughtie – 4pm on 06.11.11 and 4pm on 10.11.11 as well as Podcast on i-player.

See www.bbc.co.uk for more information.

Free Iain Banks Event, Edinburgh, 28 Sept 2011

September 21st, 2011 in Appearances & Events, UK-Specific

Iain Banks will be taking part in reading event at the University of Edinburgh next Wednesday, 28th September.

The event has been organised by the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures at the University of Edinburgh and admission is free.

See www.word-power.co.uk for details.

Thanks to David H of The Banksoniain for the heads-up.

Iain Banks on Channel 5's Gadget Show, 23 Sept 2011

September 14th, 2011 in TV, Radio & Film, UK-Specific

Iain Banks will be appearing on The Gadget Show on Channel 5 on Friday 23rd September at 20:00.

From RadioTimes.com:

"Season 16 Episode 6 sees Suzi Perry and Ortis Deley create their own interactive e-books, using digital technology to revamp two classic novels - Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days and Bram Stoker's Dracula. Best-selling author Iain Banks judges the results of their task. Repeated on Saturday 24 at 04:30 and 10:50."

Many thanks as usual to The Banksoniain's David H for the heads-up.

Iain Banks at Get Moray Reading Book Festival

September 2nd, 2011 in Appearances & Events, UK-Specific

Iain Banks will be one of the major names appearing at this year's Get Moray Reading Book Festival, which runs from 21st - 24th September.

Iain will be appearing at 19.00 on Thursday 22nd. More details at the festival website. And here's the full programme of events [pdf link].

Thanks (as usual) to David H of The Banksonian for the heads-up.

Banks for World Book Night

July 21st, 2011 in Awards & Accolades, UK-Specific

The Wasp Factory has made it onto the top 100 long-list for World Book Night.

If you're as keen as we are to see a Banks book on the final list of 25 that will be sent out to thousands of participating readers, you can do your bit to make that happen by creating an account on the worldbooknight.org website and then choosing The Wasp Factory as one of your favourite books.

Voting closes on the 31st of August, folks.

Live Iain Banks Webchat, 13.00 BST today, Friday 8th July

July 8th, 2011 in Global, Interviews

Stuck for something to do this lunchtime, Banks fans? Here you go...

The Guardian is holding a live webchat with the man himself at 13.00 hours today.

"When we asked you whom you'd like to see more of on the site, one of the names that came up over and over was Iain Banks. And who are we to argue?"

Details of how to participate are at www.guardian.co.uk.

[Heads-up via the always-vigilant David H of The Banksonian]

Iain [M] Banks at the 2011 Edinburgh Book Festival

June 20th, 2011 in Appearances & Events, UK-Specific

The 2011 Edinburgh Book Festival programme has been published and from it we learn that Iain Banks will be appearing at the RBS Main Theatre on Thursday 18th August, from 8.00pm - 9.00pm in an event titled 'What Lies Beneath the Surface Detail'.

Tickets for the event are £10.00 and will be on sale from 8.30am on Sunday 26th June.

More information can be found at www.edbookfest.co.uk.

There's also a rumour on Twitter that Alex Salmond will be conducting the interview on the night.

[Many thanks to David H of The Banksoniain for the heads-up on all of the above.]

Use of Weapons tops 'Best Sci-Fi Films Never Made' poll

May 11th, 2011 in Awards & Accolades, Global

UK-based tech news website The Register has been running an online poll, asking it's readers to nominate the 'best sci-fi films never made'; books that have so far, somehow, been over-looked by Hollywood's movie moguls in favour of yet a.n.other sequel and / or re-hash.

And the winner, by a significant margin, was our very own Iain M. Banks' Use of Weapons.

The Register reports:

"The 50 candidates attracted a whopping 27,088 votes, with the winner securing 10,032. Runner-up was Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's The Mote In God's Eye, which was honoured with 7,099 votes. You can see the full results right here.

Worth noting that Consider Phlebas, Excession, The Player of Games and The Algebraist also featured, polling a few hundred votes between them. But it's clearly Use of Weapons that people want to see on the big screen.

Hollywood movie moguls, take note!

Iain [M] Banks Events in June 2011

April 12th, 2011 in Appearances & Events, UK-Specific

Iain will be out and about in June to support the paperback publication of Surface Detail and the appearances page of the site has been updated with details of the following events:

• Friday 3rd June: Alt Fiction, Leicester
• Sunday 5th June: Hay Festival
• Monday 6th June: British Library (with Francis Spufford)
• Saturday 11th June: The Sage, Gateshead

As always, please check the individual event organisers' websites for ticket prices and other relevant information.

Iain Banks at Word 2011, Aberdeen, May 13th

March 24th, 2011 in Appearances & Events, UK-Specific

Iain Banks will be appearing at this year's Word, the University of Aberdeen Writers Festival, on Friday 13th May at 7.00 p.m. Tickets for the event, priced £8 (£6 concessions), go on sale on Monday 28th March.

There's more information on the event over at www.abdn.ac.uk/word.

Iain Banks on Desert Island Discs, August 1997

February 10th, 2011 in Global, TV, Radio & Film

The BBC iPlayer archive has dug up Iain Banks' guest appearance on the Desert Island Discs show, from way back in August 1997.

Visit www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer to hear presenter Sue Lawley quiz Iain on what he would have taken to his hypothetical desert island at the back end of the nineties...

[Thanks to David H of The Banksoniain for the heads-up]

Iain Banks Interviewed for Open University

January 28th, 2011 in Global, Interviews

Iain Banks has been interviewed by Derek Neale, Open University lecturer in Creative Writing, for the OU's OpenLearn website.

Here's the video recording of the interview (available via YouTube) which took place at the Cheltenham Literature Festival last year. Derek talks to Iain about various topics, including the digitisation of books, his writing process and the impact of world events on his work.

An audio recording of the interview is also available via audioboo.fm.

Many thanks indeed to David H (editor of Iain Banks fanzine The Banksonian) for the heads-up!