Great British writer dying of cancer
Scottish writer Iain Banks has been diagnosed with late-stage gall bladder cancer and has just months to live.
Banks says it is ‘‘extremely unlikely’’ he will live more than a year and that his latest novel, The Quarry, will likely be his last.
The 59-year-old said he was ‘‘officially very poorly’’ and weighing the pros and cons of chemotherapy to extend his life.
‘‘As a result, I’ve withdrawn from all planned public engagements and I’ve asked my partner, Adele, if she will do me the honour of becoming my widow,’’ Banks said in a statement posted on his publisher’s website. ‘‘Sorry – but we find ghoulish humour helps.’’
Banks writes general fiction and science fiction, the latter under the name Iain M Banks.
Banks published his first novel, The Wasp Factory, in 1984. His first science-fiction novel, Consider Phlebas, was published in 1987. In 2008, he was named one of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945 in a list compiled by The Times of London.