Author Iain Banks, 59
LONDON - Scottish writer Iain Banks, who alternately wowed and disturbed readers with his dark jokes and narrative tricks, has died, his publisher said yesterday. He was 59.
LONDON
- Scottish writer Iain Banks, who alternately wowed and disturbed readers with his dark jokes and narrative tricks, has died, his publisher said yesterday. He was 59.
Banks, whose writing took readers from rural Scotland to the edge of space, announced in April that he was terminally ill and that his soon-to-be released novel, The Quarry, would be his last.
A message on a website set up to provide updates to family, friends and fans quoted his wife, Adele, as saying Banks died in the early hours yesterday. "His death was calm and without pain," she said.
His publisher, Little Brown, said in a statement that Banks' "ability to combine the most fertile of imaginations with his own highly distinctive brand of gothic humor made him unique. He is an irreplaceable part of the literary world."
Banks had two parallel literary careers: one as a general-fiction author whose twisted plots are sprinkled with brutality, the other as a science-fiction writer whose imaginative universes spawned a fanzine and spun out a devoted online following.
His books were critical and popular successes. The Crow Road was adapted for television in 1996.
Banks is survived by his wife. Details of funeral arrangements were not available.