Book 1 of the 'Culture' series
Consider Phlebas
About the Author
Iain M. Banks (1954–2013) was a Scottish novelist educated on both the East and West coasts of Scotland. He studied at the University of Stirling, gaining a degree in English with Philosophy and Psychology and, while there, appearing as an extra in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Banks’ first novel, The Wasp Factory, was published in 1984 to widespread controversy. Declared a work of ‘unparalleled depravity’ by one newspaper, the book made Banks’s name as an exceptional new talent and has since been acclaimed as one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. Banks saw himself as a science-fiction writer but was encouraged by his then-editor to make a clear distinction between his literary and science-fiction by the simple addition or omission of his middle initial, M (the family name of Menzies). Alternating between these genres, Banks wrote 14 literary novels including The Crow Road, which was adapted for television by the BBC, and ten science-fiction novels. The first of these, Consider Phlebas(1987, Folio 2023), launched the Culture series of space operas for which Banks is best known today. The Folio series continued with The Player of Games (1988, Folio 2024). He also wrote short stories, poetry and a travelogue, Raw Spirit. His final novel, The Quarry, was published shortly after his death in 2013.