Iain M. Banks (for his sci-fi) or just Iain Banks (other fiction) was one of my favorite living writers. His death today was a sad and unfortunate thing. This article in The Guardian gives a quick overview for those not familiar with him and his work:
I highly recommend all his work, but particularly for us here in AV his books as Iain M. Banks. Even within just the sci-fi/fantasy stuff though, his earlier works are a bit different than later and so on like most writers. You can read summaries to see which you might want to start with. Personally I like to start with the earliest (Consider Phlebas, 1987). For those who like any though: you're gonna want to read all of them.
One of the greats left us today. A small compensation if his works get a few more readers.