Wasp Factory was a great debut. I also enjoyed Walking On Glass and The Bridge.
I must confess I have not read any of his books but I did see the tv version of The Crow Road. For some reason I did follow his postings after his diagnosis. I was rather touched by one piece which mentioned that after he announced to his fans he was ill he went on a holiday. Upon return he had an inbox full of messages from all manner of people about his writing and what it meant to people and how much he was loved. He (jokingly) wrote that one never gets to hear this normally as it tends to come after you have died and considered himself fortunate to find out.
I must confess I have not read any of his books but I did see the tv version of The Crow Road. For some reason I did follow his postings after his diagnosis. I was rather touched by one piece which mentioned that after he announced to his fans he was ill he went on a holiday. Upon return he had an inbox full of messages from all manner of people about his writing and what it meant to people and how much he was loved. He (jokingly) wrote that one never gets to hear this normally as it tends to come after you have died and considered himself fortunate to find out.
Wasp Factory is well worth reading. Was very popular when I was in Six Form at school. I did not really enjoy the SF stuff he did but that is probably due to the genre not being to my liking.
Start with The Bridge, one of his earliest, or Stonemouth, his latest. Or The wasp Factory, obviously.
You'll want to read them all.
Iain Banks lost his battle against cancer today.
I liked his books as Iain Banks, but loved the Sci-Fi books as Iain M Banks.
A sad loss at just 59.
Might dig out a few of the old classics again.