The Business - by Iain Banks (Paperback)

About the Book

A beautiful, ambitious woman pursues the ultimate prize in a wickedly satirical novel about a highly secretive transglobal organization.

Book Synopsis

Who Do You Work For?
The Business, a nearly omnipotent enterprise, is so infinitely discreet that even its top executives are vague about its actual business. It predates the Christian church and counts among its vast riches dozens of Michelangelo's pornographic paintings and several sets of Crown jewels. The only thing it lacks is political clout, a problem the Business plans to solve by buying a nation and joining the United Nations. Kate Telman, the Business's foremost expert on emerging technologies, is chosen to lead the effort. As this beautiful, ambitious American woman pursues the ultimate prize for her highly secretive transglobal employer, Iain Banks -- whom The Times of London calls "the most imaginative British novelist of his generation" -- offers a portrait of today's ubiquitous multinational corporations. Already a bestseller in England, The Business paints a picture that is at once wickedly satirical and frighteningly familiar.

Review Quotes

"Sunday Express" (London) Imagination, wit and complexity are Banks's hallmarks and The Business is no exception.

"The Guardian" One of his most assured performances yet....A highly inventive piece of work, amusing and sinister by turns.

"The Independent" (London) The Business is written with enormous energy, crunchy wit and more curves than an Alpine road.

"The Scotsman" To most of us, the world of international high finance is a mysterious domain, full of grey men in grey suits. But Iain Banks's biting satire cuts through the fog....The Business is human comedy, entertainment with a serious, satirical intent.

"The Times" (London) The Business is a classic Banks invention.

About the Author

Iain Banks came to widespread and controversial public notice with the original publication of his first novel, The Wasp Factory, recently selected in a British poll as one of the top 100 novels of the century. Since then he has gained enormous popular and critical acclaim with further works of fiction and, as Iain M. Banks, science fiction. He lives in Scotland