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has made it onto the top 100 long-list for .

If you're as keen as we are to see a Banks book on the final list of 25 that will be sent out to thousands of participating readers, you can do your bit to make that happen by on the worldbooknight.org website and then choosing as one of your favourite books.

Voting closes on the 31st of August, folks.

Stuck for something to do this lunchtime, Banks fans? Here you go...

is holding a live webchat with the man himself at 13.00 hours today.

"When we asked you whom you'd like to see more of on the site, one of the names that came up over and over was Iain Banks. And who are we to argue?"

Details of how to participate are at .

[Heads-up via the always-vigilant David H of The Banksonian]

The 2011 programme has been published and from it we learn that Iain Banks will be appearing at the RBS Main Theatre on Thursday 18th August, from 8.00pm - 9.00pm in an event titled 'What Lies Beneath the Surface Detail'.

Tickets for the event are £10.00 and will be on sale from 8.30am on Sunday 26th June.

More information can be found at .

There's also a rumour on that Alex Salmond will be conducting the interview on the night.

[Many thanks to David H of The Banksoniain for the heads-up on all of the above.]

UK-based tech news website has been running an online poll, asking it's readers to nominate the ''; books that have so far, somehow, been over-looked by Hollywood's movie moguls in favour of yet a.n.other sequel and / or re-hash.

And the winner, by a significant margin, was our very own Iain M. Banks' .

The Register reports:

"The 50 candidates attracted a whopping 27,088 votes, with the winner securing 10,032. Runner-up was Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's The Mote In God's Eye, which was honoured with 7,099 votes. You can see the full results right .

Worth noting that Consider Phlebas, Excession, The Player of Games and The Algebraist also featured, polling a few hundred votes between them. But it's clearly Use of Weapons that people want to see on the big screen.

Hollywood movie moguls, take note!

Iain will be out and about in June to support the paperback publication of Surface Detail and the page of the site has been updated with details of the following events:

Friday 3rd June: Alt Fiction, Leicester
Sunday 5th June: Hay Festival
Monday 6th June: British Library (with Francis Spufford)
Saturday 11th June: The Sage, Gateshead

As always, please check the individual event organisers' websites for ticket prices and other relevant information.

Iain Banks will be appearing at this year's Word, the University of Aberdeen Writers Festival, on Friday 13th May at 7.00 p.m. Tickets for the event, priced £8 (£6 concessions), go on sale on Monday 28th March.

There's more information on the event over at .

The archive has dug up Iain Banks' guest appearance on the Desert Island Discs show, from way back in August 1997.

Visit to hear presenter Sue Lawley quiz Iain on what he would have taken to his hypothetical desert island at the back end of the nineties...

[Thanks to David H of The Banksoniain for the heads-up]

Iain Banks has been interviewed by Derek Neale, Open University lecturer in Creative Writing, for the OU's website.

Here's the video recording of the interview (available via ) which took place at the Cheltenham Literature Festival last year. Derek talks to Iain about various topics, including the digitisation of books, his writing process and the impact of world events on his work.

An audio recording of the interview is also available via .

Many thanks indeed to David H (editor of Iain Banks fanzine The Banksonian) for the heads-up!

Iain Banks has been interviewed by Derek Neale, Open University lecturer in Creative Writing, for the course.

Here's the video recording of the interview (available via ) which took place at the Cheltenham Literature Festival last year. Derek talks to Iain about various topics, including the digitisation of books, his writing process and the impact of world events on his work.

An audio recording of the interview is also available via .

Many thanks indeed to David H (editor of Iain Banks fanzine The Banksonian) for the heads-up!

Iain [M] Banks and have been confirmed for an event at this year's Glasgow Book Festival, which takes place from Friday 4th - Saturday 12th March.

Visit for more information on the event, plus ticket booking details.