I've always suspected he never actually read them, everything about the Culture seems to fly in the face of his hard working, sleep on the factory floor, great man proganist values, though I'm sure he'd admire the tech and it would give him ideas for what to promise next. Can't remember which novel but in one of them it was made clear most of the population was trans

His daughter disowned him for being an arsehole. Which makes me think he never really understood the point of the books.

In Excession, one of the characters is considered odd because he's remained male over his long life and hasn't bothered to mix things up a bit. In one of the later books there was a character who wasn't content with that and tried a number of ever-more alien bodies until they found one that gave them the relief they needed.

> Can't remember which novel but in one of them it was made clear most of the population was trans

Yes but that was a population that could actually completely change sex in terms of biological function, using futuristic technology to do so.

So not really the same as the contemporary idea of "trans" which is just cosmetic changes to approximately mimic the opposite sex.

I'm sure your space program is way better than Elon's.

Lol. The culture is pretty far left (strong super-paternalistic government, equality of outcomes, etc...). I don't think one can draw a serious connection between liking the series and rightwing politics.

Not what I meant.

Banks had very "fast cars, chicks, and drugs" tastes - a "bro" if you will - and much of his work is basically James Bond stories. I'm not sure the fans are surprising.

Did he really? That's not what I heard.

He collected the cars and wrote about the (non-fictional) drugs. He wasn't an exhibitionist, as far as I know, so you'll have to infer what you like about the middle one from his writing.

Some related reading:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/1997/may/20/fiction.scienc...

https://www.scotsman.com/news/interview-iain-banks-a-merger-...

https://www.vice.com/en/article/iain-banks-274-v16n12/

When I read Surface Detail a few years ago, I swear something Musk tweeted near that time made me think he had also read it and identified with Joiler Veppers, the antagonist.

Yes, I've heard that said elsewhere, and I think it's perfect.