Order of Iain M. Banks Books

Iain Banks (1954-2013) was a Scottish novelist who wrote science fiction as Iain M. Banks, adding his middle initial, to differentiate between his regular literary fiction and his science fiction novels. He is perhaps best known for his The Culture series of books. Banks has been named one of “The 50 Greatest British Writers Since 1945” by The Times daily newspaper in the UK.

Banks made his debut as a published author with The Wasp Factory in 1984. Since that time, he has split his time between his Culture books (the series started in ’87) and standalone novels such as Stonemouth. Below is a list of Iain M. Banks’ books in order of publication and in chronological order:

Publication Order of Culture Books

Consider Phlebas	(1987)
The Player of Games	(1988)
The State of the Art	(1989)
Use of Weapons	(1990)
Excession	(1996)
Inversions	(1998)
Look to Windward	(2000)
Matter	(2008)
Surface Detail	(2010)
The Hydrogen Sonata	(2012)

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

The Wasp Factory	(1984)
Walking on Glass	(1985)
The Bridge	(1986)
Espedair Street	(1987)
Canal Dreams	(1989)
The Crow Road	(1992)
Complicity	(1993)
Against a Dark Background	(1993)
Feersum Endjinn	(1994)
Whit	(1995)
A Song of Stone	(1997)
The Business	(1999)
Dead Air	(2002)
The Algebraist	(2004)
The Steep Approach To Garbadale	(2005)
Transition	(2009)
Stonemouth	(2012)
The Quarry	(2013)

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Raw Spirit

(2003)

Publication Order of Poetry Collections

Poems (With: Ken MacLeod)

(2015)

Publication Order of Anthologies

Arrows Of Eros	(1989)
Dark	(2000)
The Space Opera Renaissance	(2006)
Shoreline of Infinity 8½: Edinburgh International Book Festival Special Edition	(2017)
Burning Brightly	(2021)

If You Like Iain M. Banks Books, You’ll Love…

• Terry Pratchett
• Iain M. Banks
• Irvine Welsh

2 Responses to “Order of Iain M. Banks Books”

1. Felonious Monk: 8 years ago

   And let’s not forget “The State of the Art” 1993 (I think)

   Reply

2. Jeff J: 8 years ago

   Bank’s last novel was The Quarry, published in 2013, just after his death.

   Reply