Iain Banks' first book was the highly acclaimed novel The Wasp Factory in 1984.

Iain Banks' Science Fiction novels are published under Iain M. Banks while his Fiction is under Iain Banks. His Science fiction novels are mainly based around "The Cutlure", a humanoid race who have proliferated throughout the galaxy in vast numbers, living a life of pleasure and satisfaction, meddling in the affairs of other races, and coexisting with Artificial Intelligences.

The Culture have a branch known as "Contact" which nudge and tweak the culture of various planets and species in the direction that The Culture prefers them to go. This is the basis for much of his Science Fiction, as he explores the actions of a species that see themselves as the most logical and superior of all possibilities.