Author Iain Banks (also known as Iain M. Banks) died 9 June 2013 of the cancer he’d publicly announced he had a scant two months earlier (see this article). Born 16 February 1954 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, he won two British SF Association Awards, and was nominated for the Hugo, Arthur C. Clarke, British Fantasy. James Tiptree Jr., and John W. Campbell Awards for his speculative fiction.

Perhaps best known for his Culture novels, about an anarchistic, post-scarcity, utopian society of humanoids and sophisticated AIs who meddle in the affairs of alien cultures for their own good, he also had a successful non-sf career. The sf novels were published with his middle initial, while the non-genre work did not have the middle initial.

His first published novel, [[[The Wasp Factory]]], appeared in 1984. The Culture series began with 1987’s [[[Consider Phlebas]]], and eventually grew to eleven volumes.

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction has an in-depth study of the themes in his work.

Since his death, several tributes have appeared on the Guardian‘s web site. The Banksophilia site for public commentary, is going strong.

Banks is survived by his second wife, Adele Hartley, whom he married soon after his terminal diagnosis.