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The Business
Kate is a senior executive officer in a powerful and massively discreet transglobal organization. The character of The Business seems, even to her, to be vague to the point of invisibility. Her job is to keep abreast of technological developments, but she must let go the assumptions of a lifetime.
393 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
86 people are currently reading
2077 people want to read
About the author
Iain Banks
39 books4,844 followersThis author also published science fiction under the pseudonym Iain M. Banks.
Banks's father was an officer in the Admiralty and his mother was once a professional ice skater. Iain Banks was educated at the University of Stirling where he studied English Literature, Philosophy and Psychology. He moved to London and lived in the south of England until 1988 when he returned to Scotland, living in Edinburgh and then Fife.
Banks met his wife Annie in London, before the release of his first book. They married in Hawaii in 1982. However, he announced in early 2007 that, after 25 years together, they had separated. He lived most recently in North Queensferry, a town on the north side of the Firth of Forth near the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge.
As with his friend Ken MacLeod (another Scottish writer of technical and social science fiction) a strong awareness of left-wing history shows in his writings. The argument that an economy of abundance renders anarchy and adhocracy viable (or even inevitable) attracts many as an interesting potential experiment, were it ever to become testable. He was a signatory to the Declaration of Calton Hill, which calls for Scottish independence.
In late 2004, Banks was a prominent member of a group of British politicians and media figures who campaigned to have Prime Minister Tony Blair impeached following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In protest he cut up his passport and posted it to 10 Downing Street. In an interview in Socialist Review he claimed he did this after he "abandoned the idea of crashing my Land Rover through the gates of Fife dockyard, after spotting the guys armed with machine guns." He related his concerns about the invasion of Iraq in his book Raw Spirit, and the principal protagonist (Alban McGill) in the novel The Steep Approach to Garbadale confronts another character with arguments in a similar vein.
Interviewed on Mark Lawson's BBC Four series, first broadcast in the UK on 14 November 2006, Banks explained why his novels are published under two different names. His parents wished to name him Iain Menzies Banks but his father made a mistake when registering the birth and he was officially registered as Iain Banks. Despite this he continued to use his unofficial middle name and it was as Iain M. Banks that he submitted The Wasp Factory for publication. However, his editor asked if he would mind dropping the 'M' as it appeared "too fussy". The editor was also concerned about possible confusion with Rosie M. Banks, a minor character in some of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves novels who is a romantic novelist. After his first three mainstream novels his publishers agreed to publish his first SF novel, Consider Phlebas. To distinguish between the mainstream and SF novels, Banks suggested the return of the 'M', although at one stage he considered John B. Macallan as his SF pseudonym, the name deriving from his favourite whiskies: Johnnie Walker Black Label and The Macallan single malt.
His latest book was a science fiction (SF) novel in the Culture series, called The Hydrogen Sonata, published in 2012.
Author Iain M. Banks revealed in April 2013 that he had late-stage cancer. He died the following June.
The Scottish writer posted a message on his official website saying his next novel The Quarry, due to be published later this year*, would be his last.
* The Quarry was published in June 2013.
Banks's father was an officer in the Admiralty and his mother was once a professional ice skater. Iain Banks was educated at the University of Stirling where he studied English Literature, Philosophy and Psychology. He moved to London and lived in the south of England until 1988 when he returned to Scotland, living in Edinburgh and then Fife.
Banks met his wife Annie in London, before the release of his first book. They married in Hawaii in 1982. However, he announced in early 2007 that, after 25 years together, they had separated. He lived most recently in North Queensferry, a town on the north side of the Firth of Forth near the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge.
As with his friend Ken MacLeod (another Scottish writer of technical and social science fiction) a strong awareness of left-wing history shows in his writings. The argument that an economy of abundance renders anarchy and adhocracy viable (or even inevitable) attracts many as an interesting potential experiment, were it ever to become testable. He was a signatory to the Declaration of Calton Hill, which calls for Scottish independence.
In late 2004, Banks was a prominent member of a group of British politicians and media figures who campaigned to have Prime Minister Tony Blair impeached following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In protest he cut up his passport and posted it to 10 Downing Street. In an interview in Socialist Review he claimed he did this after he "abandoned the idea of crashing my Land Rover through the gates of Fife dockyard, after spotting the guys armed with machine guns." He related his concerns about the invasion of Iraq in his book Raw Spirit, and the principal protagonist (Alban McGill) in the novel The Steep Approach to Garbadale confronts another character with arguments in a similar vein.
Interviewed on Mark Lawson's BBC Four series, first broadcast in the UK on 14 November 2006, Banks explained why his novels are published under two different names. His parents wished to name him Iain Menzies Banks but his father made a mistake when registering the birth and he was officially registered as Iain Banks. Despite this he continued to use his unofficial middle name and it was as Iain M. Banks that he submitted The Wasp Factory for publication. However, his editor asked if he would mind dropping the 'M' as it appeared "too fussy". The editor was also concerned about possible confusion with Rosie M. Banks, a minor character in some of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves novels who is a romantic novelist. After his first three mainstream novels his publishers agreed to publish his first SF novel, Consider Phlebas. To distinguish between the mainstream and SF novels, Banks suggested the return of the 'M', although at one stage he considered John B. Macallan as his SF pseudonym, the name deriving from his favourite whiskies: Johnnie Walker Black Label and The Macallan single malt.
His latest book was a science fiction (SF) novel in the Culture series, called The Hydrogen Sonata, published in 2012.
Author Iain M. Banks revealed in April 2013 that he had late-stage cancer. He died the following June.
The Scottish writer posted a message on his official website saying his next novel The Quarry, due to be published later this year*, would be his last.
* The Quarry was published in June 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 309 reviews
July 17, 2022
Kate Telman, aged 38 and contentedly unmarried and enjoying the single life is also a senior exec. Level Three in the Business. The Business you ask? The Business is a clandestine global organisation that has been around since around the Roman times, yes the Ancient Roman times! Kate's specialist role of keeping abreast of technological developments sees her beginning to see some worrying signs of a conspiracy... within The Business!
This is a pretty interesting reality and a top drawer business conspiracy thriller, but I can't but help wish that Banks focused more on the Business itself; it feels like that there should have been a prequel, say a conspiracy thriller primarily about The Business; as this book although well constructed has so many supporting characters and multiple locations, it sometimes felt like I was reading a guide book for The Business reality! 7 out of 12.
2022 read
This is a pretty interesting reality and a top drawer business conspiracy thriller, but I can't but help wish that Banks focused more on the Business itself; it feels like that there should have been a prequel, say a conspiracy thriller primarily about The Business; as this book although well constructed has so many supporting characters and multiple locations, it sometimes felt like I was reading a guide book for The Business reality! 7 out of 12.
2022 read
November 2, 2010
As every conspiracy theorist knows, They control everything. When something unexpected happens, it's because They arranged it. And, needless to say, you don't want to find out too much about Them. It could be bad for your health. Which makes you even more curious - so it's surprising that this is one of the few novels I know that's firmly set in Their world. It turns out that They are actually called The Business, and were already well-established at the time of the Roman Empire.
I see some other reviewers complaining that it's all quite impossible. No such organisation could ever have survived into the present day, even if it had existed in the first place. Well, how naive can you get? Obviously, that's exactly what They want you to think...
I see some other reviewers complaining that it's all quite impossible. No such organisation could ever have survived into the present day, even if it had existed in the first place. Well, how naive can you get? Obviously, that's exactly what They want you to think...
November 30, 2016
I've had extremely mixed experiences with Iain Banks novels. Some I loved (Transition, The Player of Games), one I absolutely hated (The Wasp Factory), others had clever elements but failed to engage me (Consider Phlebas, Use of Weapons). ‘The Business’ was a different experience again - I enjoyed it and was engaged, but there were certain flaws that prevented me from wholly adoring it. The greatest strength was the narrator, Kate Telman. She is an excellent character: a clever, reticent, ambitious woman dealing adroitly with annoying men on a daily basis. In fact, I’m impressed that Banks got me to sympathise and identify with such a jet-setting 0.1% hyper-capitalist. He managed it, I think, by demonstrating that all her money and power do not prevent Kate from being hit on by drunk arseholes. Not that she didn’t also interact with a variety of interesting women, but I did appreciate her running conversational rings around level one men. She has a great turn of phrase: ‘I did my impression of the Roman Empire, and declined.’ Moreover, I liked the emphasis on how the power of money can be brittle. It can’t protect you from car accidents, or the FBI confiscating your weapons, or your grand gestures falling flat. If anything, the overconfidence it brings makes such events more likely.
The characters and dialogue were, to my mind, stronger than the plot. I would happily have followed Kate about her typical work days.
In summary, a smart and nuanced depiction of how privileged people justify their wealth and power to themselves under globalised capitalism. The plot doesn’t explain itself as well as it might and I take issue with certain aspects of the ending, however the main character is excellent and there are some truly wonderful scenes and fantastic bits of dialogue.
The characters and dialogue were, to my mind, stronger than the plot. I would happily have followed Kate about her typical work days.
In summary, a smart and nuanced depiction of how privileged people justify their wealth and power to themselves under globalised capitalism. The plot doesn’t explain itself as well as it might and I take issue with certain aspects of the ending, however the main character is excellent and there are some truly wonderful scenes and fantastic bits of dialogue.
December 22, 2015
Barbara Rosenblat 11.7 hours.
Description: Kate is a senior executive officer in a powerful and massively discreet transglobal organization. The character of The Business seems, even to her, to be vague to the point of invisibility. Her job is to keep abreast of technological developments, but she must let go the assumptions of a lifetime.
BLURB: From Publishers Weekly: Ever since The Wasp Factory first bent readers' minds in 1984, prolific Scottish author Banks has tantalized and terrified with his eerily accurate representations of humanity at its twisted best and worst.
Lighter in mood than some of his previous novels, The Business, a bestseller in Great Britain, is still shot through with sinister undertones.
In a recognizable but slightly tilted 1998, Kathryn Telman works for the Business, a mysterious corporation that predates the Christian church and at one point owned the Roman Empire. Plucked from poverty in West Scotland at the age of eight, she has been groomed for the fast track ever since.
Thirty years later, despite her power, money and success, she is finally beginning to wonder just what the Business is all about. Why was she pulled out of Scotland just as she noticed something amiss at a subsidiary chip factory? Why has she been summoned by a munitions-collecting higher-up to talk his nephew out of writing an incendiary anti-Islamic screenplay? Why has the Business's sinister head of security sent her a dirty DVD showing the wife of Kathryn's colleague and secret love in an illicit tryst? And why suddenly appoint her "ambassador" to Thulahn, a remote Himalayan principality the Business is buying in order to gain its own seat in the U.N.?
Banks offers a hilarious look at international corporate culture and the insatiable avarice that drives it, but he suggests the positive potential of globalization, too. Less overtly eccentric and sensationalistic than favorites like The Wasp Factory and A Song of Stone, the novel is a clever, genre-bending pleasure.
Am not a fan of that ending - I can't believe Banks went for the fairytale and this lost a star because of it.4* The Wasp Factory
3* The Business
1* The Deep Approach to Garbadale (aka The Dire Descent into Garbage)
2* Stonemouth
As Iain M Banks:
TR Consider Phlebas (Culture, #1)
TR The Player of Games (Culture, #2)
TR Use of Weapons (Culture, #3)
3* Matter (Culture, #8)
TR Surface Detail (Culture, #9)
4* Look to Windward (Culture, #7)
4* The Algebraist
3* The State of the Art (Culture, #4)
May 10, 2016
Imagine if Evelyn Waugh had written “The Firm.” Remember that book? A by-the-numbers thriller from John Grisham, it was effective enough, especially if the reader's expectations weren’t high. But imagine if Waugh had written it. The plot would retain that edge-of-the-seat construction, yet be augmented by a real – and quite dark – artistic sensibility, replete with vicious humor and enhanced by a flair for characterization.
Iain Banks’ THE BUSINESS concerns an insidious secret organization (and the lone woman with nerve enough to challenge it). The Business turns out to be an unimaginably powerful enterprise, ancient and ubiquitous, with origins that predate both the Catholic Church and the Roman Empire, the latter of which it briefly owned. Not so much a clandestine institution as a clandestine empire, it makes extraordinary demands on its staff. Management personnel must renounce religious and national allegiances, even family connections. Enter Kate Telman, a sort of executive-in-waiting, groomed since childhood to ascend to the organization’s upper echelon. After years of concentrated preparation, Kate is about to take her place within the inner circle… when things get messy. After all, in the world of commerce, personal morality can be an insuperable handicap. Though Kate dallies with both a handsome chauffeur and a prince in peril, the real romance here concerns the seductiveness of power. As THE BUSINESS demonstrates, even Banks’ mainstream thrillers retain a speculative edge: a sharply observed play of ideas provides the author’s major focus, and fans of his macabre brand of satiric vision will not be disappointed.
Iain Banks’ THE BUSINESS concerns an insidious secret organization (and the lone woman with nerve enough to challenge it). The Business turns out to be an unimaginably powerful enterprise, ancient and ubiquitous, with origins that predate both the Catholic Church and the Roman Empire, the latter of which it briefly owned. Not so much a clandestine institution as a clandestine empire, it makes extraordinary demands on its staff. Management personnel must renounce religious and national allegiances, even family connections. Enter Kate Telman, a sort of executive-in-waiting, groomed since childhood to ascend to the organization’s upper echelon. After years of concentrated preparation, Kate is about to take her place within the inner circle… when things get messy. After all, in the world of commerce, personal morality can be an insuperable handicap. Though Kate dallies with both a handsome chauffeur and a prince in peril, the real romance here concerns the seductiveness of power. As THE BUSINESS demonstrates, even Banks’ mainstream thrillers retain a speculative edge: a sharply observed play of ideas provides the author’s major focus, and fans of his macabre brand of satiric vision will not be disappointed.
August 20, 2010
First read it five or six years ago in a single afternoon and was wholly underwhelmed by the experience. Coming after Song of Stone – the only Banks book I genuinely dislike – I felt at the time that maybe his powers were beginning to wane.
But a friend urged me to give it a second chance and told me to read it as a prequel to the Culture books, whereupon it makes much more sense.
And do you know, he’s right. It’s a bloody Culture book in disguise. Or at least, it takes as its premise – how could something like the Culture come about, and what kind of choices and moral framework could inspire it?
It lacks the grand guignol of his more gruesome tales, the broad comedy of Espedair Street, or the emotional power of The Crow Road. It’s a minor Banks. But it’s still a damn good read, with a likeable and well realised central character, a few of Banks’ trademark eccentrics, some interesting ideas well explored, and moments that made me smile or think.
The thriller plot is underused – too tenuous to follow initially, and then too poorly explained at the end. He should have made more of that, it could have given the book a sense of urgency which it would have benefitted from greatly.
But Banks is a safe pair of hands, and even a less than stellar performance from him is well worth the time.
But a friend urged me to give it a second chance and told me to read it as a prequel to the Culture books, whereupon it makes much more sense.
And do you know, he’s right. It’s a bloody Culture book in disguise. Or at least, it takes as its premise – how could something like the Culture come about, and what kind of choices and moral framework could inspire it?
It lacks the grand guignol of his more gruesome tales, the broad comedy of Espedair Street, or the emotional power of The Crow Road. It’s a minor Banks. But it’s still a damn good read, with a likeable and well realised central character, a few of Banks’ trademark eccentrics, some interesting ideas well explored, and moments that made me smile or think.
The thriller plot is underused – too tenuous to follow initially, and then too poorly explained at the end. He should have made more of that, it could have given the book a sense of urgency which it would have benefitted from greatly.
But Banks is a safe pair of hands, and even a less than stellar performance from him is well worth the time.
June 1, 2019
I feel bad giving this 2 stars -- especially because of how much I love Iain Banks, but this book was pretty poor compared to his other work.
Well, as the Japanese say: even a monkey falls from a tree.
Well, as the Japanese say: even a monkey falls from a tree.
June 24, 2021
Jane Austen meets Thomas Pynchon - or, rather, 21st-century William Gibson. A nice read, but light by Iain M. Banks standards.
February 25, 2025
3.5 Within the conspiracies of a secret organization of the super-rich and the forces who secretly control the world, a woman named Kate is approaching forty. She's so beautiful people can't help but be charmed, she's a genius, she's still fertile (she checked!) and she was brought into the Organization as a destitute Scottish child. The story plays out like a romance for the most part, but both of her loves are chaste, a married coworker and the prince of an obscure (but politically advantageous) country. She's unattainable. She doesn't know how to be a part of the world anymore or what it might mean to settle down. This is a beautiful book that's extremely smart but can also get a little boring. This is only the third novel of Banks I've read outside of the fantastic Culture books. I was a little worried it would have some weird stuff about women like some of the earlier Banks books, but it's actually very tasteful and witty. It's more like the Culture novel Inversions which was published a year earlier. What keeps it from being a four-star rating is more that it doesn't really have a third act and the spy machinations are a bit obvious. It's a serious novel about a super rich spy girl boss who can't open up emotionally.
July 12, 2014
I have read all of Iain Banks novels and this one is one of my favourites.
The Business from where the book gets its name is a centuries old concern, at one point in the novel it is suggested that its history stretches back as far as the Roman Empire, but the story postulates the compelling conceit that over centuries The Business has been built up with assets and resources that go beyond countries and national powers to influence every part of the world.
Unexpectedly, at the top of The Business is a strictly meritocratic management structure, and here we come to the main story which is that of Kate who by a chance encounter on a housing estate outside Coatbridge, Glasgow, was lifted out of dire poverty to become Kathryn Telman, a senior executive officer, third level (counting from the top).
I won't say much about the story, except to say it had me hooked from the very start. It keeps the reader interested by using a variety of styles, phone conversations, emails, interview extracts; but also by a globe spanning selection of locals from Texas to Tibet, Yorkshire to Geneva. When it comes to describing how the very wealthy and eccentric spend their money, Iain Banks is as ever witty and entertaining.
I think what I find compelling about this book is the character of Kate Telman, as always Iain Banks female heroines are excellent, and the overall story of not necessarily good vs evil, but greed vs the greater good. Also some interesting reflections on what makes a happy life.
Recommended.
The Business from where the book gets its name is a centuries old concern, at one point in the novel it is suggested that its history stretches back as far as the Roman Empire, but the story postulates the compelling conceit that over centuries The Business has been built up with assets and resources that go beyond countries and national powers to influence every part of the world.
Unexpectedly, at the top of The Business is a strictly meritocratic management structure, and here we come to the main story which is that of Kate who by a chance encounter on a housing estate outside Coatbridge, Glasgow, was lifted out of dire poverty to become Kathryn Telman, a senior executive officer, third level (counting from the top).
I won't say much about the story, except to say it had me hooked from the very start. It keeps the reader interested by using a variety of styles, phone conversations, emails, interview extracts; but also by a globe spanning selection of locals from Texas to Tibet, Yorkshire to Geneva. When it comes to describing how the very wealthy and eccentric spend their money, Iain Banks is as ever witty and entertaining.
I think what I find compelling about this book is the character of Kate Telman, as always Iain Banks female heroines are excellent, and the overall story of not necessarily good vs evil, but greed vs the greater good. Also some interesting reflections on what makes a happy life.
Recommended.
April 4, 2022
I really rather enjoyed this novel about a clandestine international commercial organisation called the Business for about 150 pages as I was interested to see how the main protagonist Kathryn Tellman's story developed but I found that in the final 50 pages the story concluded in a way that left me a little disappointed to be honest.
April 11, 2019
Well not one of Iain Banks' best pieces of contemporary fiction by a long way and coming next in line to A Song of Stone, then it does fade quite spectacularly into insignificance. Why so? It is overlong, and about three-quarters of the way through we get a very lyrically description section on a Himalayan village called Thulan, which 'The Business' wants to modernise the country and end up having control over for 'The Business' to gain a seat on the UN. 'The Business' is this, almost shady organisation that has wheeled and dealed going back centuries, during Roman times, and also apparently controlled the Catholic Church at one point. Great book if you are into conspiracy theories and some high powered Capitalist Elite having control over the Stock Market and so on. Then we have conspiracies within conspiracies which only seem to become unraveled towards the last 100 pages or so (the book come in at near 400 pages long).
It is focused around a 38 year Woman called Kate Telman, who grew up in a Glasgow slum and became 'adopted' by The Business. I guess her Feminism shines out throughout most of the book (she being the main focus and narrative), and she is the envoy to Thulan, whith most of The Business having ulterior motives for her to marry the Prince of Thulan to properly cement the 'deal'. However Kate becomes suspicious of what exactly is going on behind the scenes of The Business, and starts doing a bit of undercover sleuthing to uncover some quite nasty schemes going on, etc. I am not going to write a massive review because, whilst there is a good plot going on (although the narrative and her love life seem to be the most prominent aspect here), it fails quite short, and I was wanting some history of this shady background organisation. Kate uncovers the background machinations, and disappears back to Thulan to eventually marry her Prince. Sweet ending, but ultimately a bit of a let down. 3 stars mainly because if came from the wild imagination of the late Iain Banks.
It is focused around a 38 year Woman called Kate Telman, who grew up in a Glasgow slum and became 'adopted' by The Business. I guess her Feminism shines out throughout most of the book (she being the main focus and narrative), and she is the envoy to Thulan, whith most of The Business having ulterior motives for her to marry the Prince of Thulan to properly cement the 'deal'. However Kate becomes suspicious of what exactly is going on behind the scenes of The Business, and starts doing a bit of undercover sleuthing to uncover some quite nasty schemes going on, etc. I am not going to write a massive review because, whilst there is a good plot going on (although the narrative and her love life seem to be the most prominent aspect here), it fails quite short, and I was wanting some history of this shady background organisation. Kate uncovers the background machinations, and disappears back to Thulan to eventually marry her Prince. Sweet ending, but ultimately a bit of a let down. 3 stars mainly because if came from the wild imagination of the late Iain Banks.
January 21, 2013
Originally published on my blog here in July 2000.
The Business is a shadowy commercial operation which has been in existence for thousands of years, and which now aims to buy itself a country, so its senior executives can gain the privileges which go with a diplomatic passport. Kate Telman, the narrator, is not quite up to that level, but is one of the rising stars in the Business, and it is not particularly surprising when she is asked to become an ambassador of sorts to the Himalayan kingdom of Thulahn to arrange the purchase of the country from the reigning prince, particularly as he is known to have a strong fancy for her.
The Business is, of course, designed by Banks to be the kind of organisation which attracts conspiracy theories, even if Kate is quite vehement in denying them ("We're not a cover for the CIA. They're the Company, not the Business."). This aspect of the novel is entertaining and unusual: most conspiracy theory novels are written from the point of view of an external investigator, rather than someone closely involved in what could clearly appear sinister to an outsider even if considered relatively innocent by herself. Kate has strong reasons to be grateful to the Business, which lifted her out of the deprived background in which she was born, but she is not entirely naive about the organisation and some of its senior members. She is one of several female point of view characters used by Banks (Canal Dreams, Whit, and Against a Dark Background provide other examples), and is reasonably convincing if a little bland.
The star of The Business is Thulahn, which is an exaggerated version of Bhutan or Nepal, content to remain one of the remotest parts of the world. The people may be poor, but at least they're happy. The questionable benefits of Business sponsored development programmes begin to make Kate think twice about the whole deal, but in the end the country's portrayal is too idyllic for the issues to have real meaning.
If The Business has a message, it is one it shares with Whit. This is that it is possible - and maybe easier - to be happy without the distractions of modern Western culture, without the consumer luxuries with which we are surrounded. (Whit makes this point more effectively, as its narrator is one of those on the outside of consumer culture, while Kate lives a life of corporate luxury.) Banks is surely trying to say that we should look at our own lives to see what in the material world is really important, what really brings us happiness.
This is one of the reasons why The Business lacks the significance of Banks' earlier novels - or other novels about the third world. Compared to, say, The God of Small Things, it has nothing to say; it lacks the brilliance of The Bridge or the immense shock value of The Wasp Factory. Banks seems to have become a bit too comfortable, but is still a good writer and extremely entertaining.
The Business is a shadowy commercial operation which has been in existence for thousands of years, and which now aims to buy itself a country, so its senior executives can gain the privileges which go with a diplomatic passport. Kate Telman, the narrator, is not quite up to that level, but is one of the rising stars in the Business, and it is not particularly surprising when she is asked to become an ambassador of sorts to the Himalayan kingdom of Thulahn to arrange the purchase of the country from the reigning prince, particularly as he is known to have a strong fancy for her.
The Business is, of course, designed by Banks to be the kind of organisation which attracts conspiracy theories, even if Kate is quite vehement in denying them ("We're not a cover for the CIA. They're the Company, not the Business."). This aspect of the novel is entertaining and unusual: most conspiracy theory novels are written from the point of view of an external investigator, rather than someone closely involved in what could clearly appear sinister to an outsider even if considered relatively innocent by herself. Kate has strong reasons to be grateful to the Business, which lifted her out of the deprived background in which she was born, but she is not entirely naive about the organisation and some of its senior members. She is one of several female point of view characters used by Banks (Canal Dreams, Whit, and Against a Dark Background provide other examples), and is reasonably convincing if a little bland.
The star of The Business is Thulahn, which is an exaggerated version of Bhutan or Nepal, content to remain one of the remotest parts of the world. The people may be poor, but at least they're happy. The questionable benefits of Business sponsored development programmes begin to make Kate think twice about the whole deal, but in the end the country's portrayal is too idyllic for the issues to have real meaning.
If The Business has a message, it is one it shares with Whit. This is that it is possible - and maybe easier - to be happy without the distractions of modern Western culture, without the consumer luxuries with which we are surrounded. (Whit makes this point more effectively, as its narrator is one of those on the outside of consumer culture, while Kate lives a life of corporate luxury.) Banks is surely trying to say that we should look at our own lives to see what in the material world is really important, what really brings us happiness.
This is one of the reasons why The Business lacks the significance of Banks' earlier novels - or other novels about the third world. Compared to, say, The God of Small Things, it has nothing to say; it lacks the brilliance of The Bridge or the immense shock value of The Wasp Factory. Banks seems to have become a bit too comfortable, but is still a good writer and extremely entertaining.
December 14, 2020
Functioning as a pastiche of the airport novel, while still delivering everything you’d expect of a glitzy globe-trotting thriller, ‘The Business’ is almost a light-hearted bit of fluff compared to much of Banks’s other work. Almost. Because threaded through the fun, frothiness and big self-indulgent set pieces, there’s a discourse on family, belonging and the soullessness of success that gives the novel a depth you don’t quite realise it has while you’re happily turning the pages and enjoying the genre tropes.
October 2, 2010
The more I read Iain Banks' work, the more I appreciate it. His way with words aside, it's the fact that no two books are exactly alike in tone or style, but they share a common quality that makes me go "yummm".
In The Business, Banks introduces us to Kathryn, a Level Three in The Business, but who knows from personal experience what the hard life actually is - she's from the "schemes" (Scots for "projects") and only by dint of natural cunning and adoption by Mrs. Telman does she get out. The Business is one of those shadowy, semi-secret, incredibly long-lived organizations, predating the Roman Empire and essentially running the world in whatever era it is. Kathryn's a computer/IT geek, but she's also intelligent and has caught the attention of several Level Twos and Level Ones because she's also caught the eye of the Prince of Thulahn. The Business, it appears Has Plans.
The other characters in the book are well-drawn, but definitely secondary to Kathryn (a trait that many of Banks' books share). The plotting and counter-plotting, the games and tricks are interesting, and while I guessed what the Big Plan was, it's never explicitly stated, even at the end. I also loved how Kathryn could go from mushy about her "pillow children" (especially Dulsung) to quite, well, frightening in her last encounter with Adrian.
Any of Banks' books makes for a great adult read.
In The Business, Banks introduces us to Kathryn, a Level Three in The Business, but who knows from personal experience what the hard life actually is - she's from the "schemes" (Scots for "projects") and only by dint of natural cunning and adoption by Mrs. Telman does she get out. The Business is one of those shadowy, semi-secret, incredibly long-lived organizations, predating the Roman Empire and essentially running the world in whatever era it is. Kathryn's a computer/IT geek, but she's also intelligent and has caught the attention of several Level Twos and Level Ones because she's also caught the eye of the Prince of Thulahn. The Business, it appears Has Plans.
The other characters in the book are well-drawn, but definitely secondary to Kathryn (a trait that many of Banks' books share). The plotting and counter-plotting, the games and tricks are interesting, and while I guessed what the Big Plan was, it's never explicitly stated, even at the end. I also loved how Kathryn could go from mushy about her "pillow children" (especially Dulsung) to quite, well, frightening in her last encounter with Adrian.
Any of Banks' books makes for a great adult read.
September 22, 2011
The premise of this book sounds great - a business that has been running for thousands of years, and now want to own a country so they can have a UN seat. It starts great and pulls you in to the story but then it starts to go down hill - the ending is rushed, way too many characters - yes a novel can have a cast of thousands but we don't want to know all of their names, too much talking and not enough showing. More could have been done with the first person narrative. There were parts that were repeating as if the reader might forget.
But I liked the writing style - I read it all the way to the end and the premise was intriguing. The start of the novel is great but there is alot of build-up - either the novel needed to have been longer or the beginning need to be sliced and diced. I really enjoyed the background about the 'Business.'
But I liked the writing style - I read it all the way to the end and the premise was intriguing. The start of the novel is great but there is alot of build-up - either the novel needed to have been longer or the beginning need to be sliced and diced. I really enjoyed the background about the 'Business.'
June 14, 2019
Iain Banks has a most wonderful felicity for plucking ideas out of nowhere and developing them into the magical creations. He would probably object to such a characterisation because I am sure he has to work hard on some of them. This particular idea of a company, a business going back to the beginning of time is superb. Surviving all vicissitudes it survives by plucking management talent from wherever it can find it, developing it and then letting run. Rather like Ian Bank's ideas. Read on.
July 28, 2022
I should first point out that this is a solid 3.5, but I can't give that!
The more of Banks' works I read, the more I realise what an imaginative, talented and versatile writer he was. The Business sees him at his satirical and observational best, but holds back on the abstraction, experimental weirdness and shock of some of his other work. To this end, it's a tad underwhelming but nevertheless an enjoyable read.
The more of Banks' works I read, the more I realise what an imaginative, talented and versatile writer he was. The Business sees him at his satirical and observational best, but holds back on the abstraction, experimental weirdness and shock of some of his other work. To this end, it's a tad underwhelming but nevertheless an enjoyable read.
August 21, 2012
A delightful satire on international finance and investment, rife with high-grade one-liners and a morlaity axis which one hopes could be possible. Not a great effort from Iain but one worth one's time.
I've read that could be considered a proto-Culture novel, that such a qualification adds to the novel. I honestly don't know.
I've read that could be considered a proto-Culture novel, that such a qualification adds to the novel. I honestly don't know.
April 14, 2020
Giving this book 5 stars because of the last 30 pages. Be patient, read to the end, it's worth it!
November 24, 2024
Kate Telman is a senior executive officer (Level 3) in a mysterious and long-lasting (since Roman Times) organisation known only as 'The Business'. The organisation is transglobal and its officers must prioritise their job responsibilities over national and even religious loyalties. For this, they get handsomely remunerated in a business which is, or is supposed to be, financially transparent.
Kate was recruited to the business as a small child and groomed for greatness by her mentor, Mrs Telman, who, recognising her potential, adopted her out of poverty and groomed her for greatness. Now, Kate's responsibilities lie in the field of technology, in particular keeping abreast of current developments - which see her jetting off all over the world and with little time for any domestic bliss, with which she is largely satisfied. Then, on a unscheduled visit to one of the company's microchip factories in Scotland, she gets the feeling that something has been hidden from her - and her subsequent enquiries point to some level of corruption at the very top of the organisation.
But then Kate is asked to travel to the remote nation of Thulahn, ensconced in the middle of the Himalayas. The Business is planning on effectively 'buying' the country in order to get a seat on the United Nations and Kate is asked to assess the state of the country and its leader, Prince Suvinder, with a view to her becoming their representative in the country. But is this all a plan to hide the corruption that Kate has potentially identified?....
This was quite a good read - great characterisation but perhaps a bit too much detail at times and I sort of got fed up with Kate detailing her weird (and largely irrelevant) dreams and then waking up without at first realising where she was - a bit unnecessary. I also found it a bit long-winded and, when I was getting towards the end, actually put the book down and started something else before returning to it the following day to polish it off - to find the ending a bit inconclusive. I have read several of this author's works before and have several more on the shelf to read and have found that my ratings vary between 3 and 4 stars. This one was an interesting concept but overall a 3-star read for me - 7/10.
Kate was recruited to the business as a small child and groomed for greatness by her mentor, Mrs Telman, who, recognising her potential, adopted her out of poverty and groomed her for greatness. Now, Kate's responsibilities lie in the field of technology, in particular keeping abreast of current developments - which see her jetting off all over the world and with little time for any domestic bliss, with which she is largely satisfied. Then, on a unscheduled visit to one of the company's microchip factories in Scotland, she gets the feeling that something has been hidden from her - and her subsequent enquiries point to some level of corruption at the very top of the organisation.
But then Kate is asked to travel to the remote nation of Thulahn, ensconced in the middle of the Himalayas. The Business is planning on effectively 'buying' the country in order to get a seat on the United Nations and Kate is asked to assess the state of the country and its leader, Prince Suvinder, with a view to her becoming their representative in the country. But is this all a plan to hide the corruption that Kate has potentially identified?....
This was quite a good read - great characterisation but perhaps a bit too much detail at times and I sort of got fed up with Kate detailing her weird (and largely irrelevant) dreams and then waking up without at first realising where she was - a bit unnecessary. I also found it a bit long-winded and, when I was getting towards the end, actually put the book down and started something else before returning to it the following day to polish it off - to find the ending a bit inconclusive. I have read several of this author's works before and have several more on the shelf to read and have found that my ratings vary between 3 and 4 stars. This one was an interesting concept but overall a 3-star read for me - 7/10.
January 3, 2025
The Business was a different experience again - I enjoyed it and was engaged, but there were certain flaws that prevented me from wholly adoring it. The greatest strength was the narrator, Kate Telman. She is an excellent character: a clever, reticent, ambitious woman dealing adroitly with annoying men on a daily basis. In fact, I’m impressed that Banks got me to sympathize and identify with such a jet-setting 0.1% hyper-capitalist. He managed it, I think, by demonstrating that all her money and power do not prevent Kate from being hit on by drunk assholes. Not that she didn’t also interact with a variety of interesting women, but I did appreciate her running conversational rings around level one men. She has a great turn of phrase: ‘I did my impression of the Roman Empire, and declined.’ Moreover, I liked the emphasis on how the power of money can be brittle. It can’t protect you from car accidents, or the FBI confiscating your weapons, or your grand gestures falling flat. If anything, the overconfidence it brings makes such events more likely.
August 17, 2024
Probably my least favourite Iain Banks book yet, confusing plotline and it came off as quite dated even though it's less than 30 years old.
March 8, 2017
You know those books that you read and enjoy while you're reading them, but when you're finished you struggle - even when it's only days later - to recall much about them?
The Business is one of those books.
I've put off reviewing this for a while largely because I wanted to write something worthwhile, but was finding it difficult to think of anything to say about the work. So now: let's get to it.
It's an airport novel. Let's be frank. It's designed to be inhaled and forgotten, I think, so it's fitting I bought and read it while on holiday. The writing isn't bad, by any means, and the story is so-so - it's just that it fails to leave much of an impact, which is a shame given the setup Banks provides.
The book is told from the perspective of Kate Telman, an executive in a shadowy, eons-old corporation known only as The Business. The Business is keen to own a nation state, so that it can have access to the workings of the United Nations, so there's a geopolitical slant to what could otherwise be just a fairly standard shadowy-cabal-rules-world-secretly-until-this-character-rises-up kind of work.
Unfortunately, the blurb (or the imaginings you're having based on the blurb) is probably more ultimately satisfying than what we're given. There's plenty of memorable scenes (almost crashing in a tiny mountain state, SCUD-collecting stories) and characters (though they tend towards the stereotypical: inscrutable businessmen, faintly daft avuncular types, sleazy Princes who have a heart of gold, really) but I just wasn't too sold on the story, or on Telman's character.
The lead's background is well drawn, but some of the day-to-day descriptions seem a bit forced. She's someone I really liked, and wanted to learn more about, but I couldn't escape the feeling that it was a dude writing a woman without really asking any what it's like.
Essentially, the story seems to boil down to a kind of factional contest within The Business, which was a disappointment. It seems a waste to have an all-powerful conglomerate (and an undeniably interesting stolen-tooth opening) and then to have the bulk of the story focus on territorial pissings. The ending sort of stumbled along, and I was left with the distinct impression that Banks had a great idea for a story, but then phoned it in when he had to actually write the fucking thing.
It sounds like I'm pretty down on this. I am, I guess - not because it was bad, but because it could be so much better. It's still enjoyable in a holiday/waiting room kind of mode, but so is candyfloss: it doesn't bear much reflection afterwards, and you probably wouldn't want to have to chew through it every day.
The Business is one of those books.
I've put off reviewing this for a while largely because I wanted to write something worthwhile, but was finding it difficult to think of anything to say about the work. So now: let's get to it.
It's an airport novel. Let's be frank. It's designed to be inhaled and forgotten, I think, so it's fitting I bought and read it while on holiday. The writing isn't bad, by any means, and the story is so-so - it's just that it fails to leave much of an impact, which is a shame given the setup Banks provides.
The book is told from the perspective of Kate Telman, an executive in a shadowy, eons-old corporation known only as The Business. The Business is keen to own a nation state, so that it can have access to the workings of the United Nations, so there's a geopolitical slant to what could otherwise be just a fairly standard shadowy-cabal-rules-world-secretly-until-this-character-rises-up kind of work.
Unfortunately, the blurb (or the imaginings you're having based on the blurb) is probably more ultimately satisfying than what we're given. There's plenty of memorable scenes (almost crashing in a tiny mountain state, SCUD-collecting stories) and characters (though they tend towards the stereotypical: inscrutable businessmen, faintly daft avuncular types, sleazy Princes who have a heart of gold, really) but I just wasn't too sold on the story, or on Telman's character.
The lead's background is well drawn, but some of the day-to-day descriptions seem a bit forced. She's someone I really liked, and wanted to learn more about, but I couldn't escape the feeling that it was a dude writing a woman without really asking any what it's like.
Essentially, the story seems to boil down to a kind of factional contest within The Business, which was a disappointment. It seems a waste to have an all-powerful conglomerate (and an undeniably interesting stolen-tooth opening) and then to have the bulk of the story focus on territorial pissings. The ending sort of stumbled along, and I was left with the distinct impression that Banks had a great idea for a story, but then phoned it in when he had to actually write the fucking thing.
It sounds like I'm pretty down on this. I am, I guess - not because it was bad, but because it could be so much better. It's still enjoyable in a holiday/waiting room kind of mode, but so is candyfloss: it doesn't bear much reflection afterwards, and you probably wouldn't want to have to chew through it every day.
February 16, 2012
For years I thought Iain Banks could do no wrong. 'The Wasp Factory', 'The Bridge', 'Complicity' and all the rest, every time I read an Iain Banks book I felt as though my mind had been blown by the guy's genius. And then I ran out to WH Smith and bought 'The Business' as soon as it was released. Ack.
It sounds interesting enough, the whole history of the Business, this huge, shadowy organisation and this woman who works for them. But the book is what I never ever thought Banks could be. Dull. I kept throwing the book to one side and then picking it up again, thinking it's Banks right? It has to be awesome and genius. But no, it was about this woman I couldn't begin to care about who works for this organization that's so shadowy that I couldn't care less about it. And on this journey the woman meets people who I remember being just as dull as she is.
In his earlier novels Banks always had the brilliance of his writing to carry the day, but in this one there wasn't even that to fall back on.
A massive let down after his earlier books.
It sounds interesting enough, the whole history of the Business, this huge, shadowy organisation and this woman who works for them. But the book is what I never ever thought Banks could be. Dull. I kept throwing the book to one side and then picking it up again, thinking it's Banks right? It has to be awesome and genius. But no, it was about this woman I couldn't begin to care about who works for this organization that's so shadowy that I couldn't care less about it. And on this journey the woman meets people who I remember being just as dull as she is.
In his earlier novels Banks always had the brilliance of his writing to carry the day, but in this one there wasn't even that to fall back on.
A massive let down after his earlier books.
July 21, 2021
Rating is a little harsh. Probably more 2.5, but certainly not a 3.
I found this surprisingly bad for a Banks novel. It had many of the elements that make his writing so good - eccentric characters, punchy dialogue, great descriptions, a huge crazy country house, good locations, shadowy interactions in the business world - but somehow everything felt very flat, and I spent the whole novel waiting for something dramatic to happen...and it didn't really, besides the main character almost trashing someone's Ferrari. Many of the scenes in the novel were well written, but they all seemed isolated from each other and didn't fit together properly. It was a good premise, I think, but badly executed.
I suppose even the best authors have a couple of turkeys to their name, and I think this is one of them for Banks. Far better accounts of business world shenanigans can be found in The Steep Approach to Garbadale and Dead Air.
I found this surprisingly bad for a Banks novel. It had many of the elements that make his writing so good - eccentric characters, punchy dialogue, great descriptions, a huge crazy country house, good locations, shadowy interactions in the business world - but somehow everything felt very flat, and I spent the whole novel waiting for something dramatic to happen...and it didn't really, besides the main character almost trashing someone's Ferrari. Many of the scenes in the novel were well written, but they all seemed isolated from each other and didn't fit together properly. It was a good premise, I think, but badly executed.
I suppose even the best authors have a couple of turkeys to their name, and I think this is one of them for Banks. Far better accounts of business world shenanigans can be found in The Steep Approach to Garbadale and Dead Air.
August 26, 2015
I thought I owned this book because it was on one of those 1001 books one should read type lists. The whole time I was reading it, I kept asking myself, "What in the world is so special about this novel that it would make such a list? I'm pretty sure there Banks has better books, and there are certainly better books in the world..." I didn't realize that I'd confused it with The Information by Martin Amis. The names are similar and both authors are British, okay? We all make mistakes. Even if I'd figured out my mistake, I was already committed to this rather bland novel. This book was so heavy handed with the "strong female protagonist" trope that I was nodding off regularly. Read the Culture series, not this.
September 28, 2017
Boring and, frankly, half-arsed. If this novel were a room, the 'conspiracy', such as it is, would be standing outside at the far end of the garden getting rained on. And you look around and notice the room only has three walls. And all the doors are just drawn on in crayon.
It's boring, the world isn't believable, the characters all seem 2D, the narrator herself is just a sketch even though we're in her head the whole story. I was never invested in her story or her stupid life.
Ultimately, the book's big failing is that it is about nothing. I'd no real idea there was supposed to be a mystery until the final few pages as it's 'set up' at the start and then never mentioned again. And if didn't make any sense. Can't believe he handed this in without thinking, 'Yeah, that could probably do with another rewrite'.
It's boring, the world isn't believable, the characters all seem 2D, the narrator herself is just a sketch even though we're in her head the whole story. I was never invested in her story or her stupid life.
Ultimately, the book's big failing is that it is about nothing. I'd no real idea there was supposed to be a mystery until the final few pages as it's 'set up' at the start and then never mentioned again. And if didn't make any sense. Can't believe he handed this in without thinking, 'Yeah, that could probably do with another rewrite'.
October 25, 2010
An incredible novel on the human condition and the temptation of capitalism in business. Iain Banks writes with a free-flowing and captivating prose that allows people to sink into his books and come out at the end feeling refreshed.
February 12, 2023
Libro de ritmo constante aunque no muy alto. Salvo cerca del final nunca decae. Vive y respira por su protagonista que hace una curiosa evolución personal. Deber ser de los libros más accesibles del autor y también de los menos ambiciosos. Sin embargo a mi me vale, me ha llevado de la manita desde el principio y no me arrepiento. Seguramente es considerada un trabajo menor pero como hay tanto del autor y a mi me empieza a caer “de puta madre” y creo que debía ser un tipo muy interesante, divertido y curioso. Me sirve.
Encuentro en GR Un comentario de Carmelo que dice ”Claro ejemplo de que aunque Iain Banks ha hecho joyas como la serie de La cultura, no siempre está uno inspirado o más bien le obligan a escribir por contrato. La novela empieza muy bien, con varias tramas de intriga empresarial y muchos personajes ambiciosos e interesantes, con varios hilos argumentales. Conforme avanza la novela va tirando erráticamente de los hilos y se centra en el menos interesante. De repente la novela se convierte en una recopilación de la filosofía de vida del autor dónde expresa su opinión sobre distintos temas. El final es apresurado y no especialmente inspirado.” https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Todo, absolutamente todo, cierto y acertado; pero la frase “De repente la novela se convierte en una recopilación de la filosofía de vida del autor dónde expresa su opinión sobre distintos tema” tiene significados opuestos para nosotros de ahí la distinta valoración que hacemos del libro. (ojo, para ponerle bien tres estrellas, no cuatro o cinco)
Encuentro en GR Un comentario de Carmelo que dice ”Claro ejemplo de que aunque Iain Banks ha hecho joyas como la serie de La cultura, no siempre está uno inspirado o más bien le obligan a escribir por contrato. La novela empieza muy bien, con varias tramas de intriga empresarial y muchos personajes ambiciosos e interesantes, con varios hilos argumentales. Conforme avanza la novela va tirando erráticamente de los hilos y se centra en el menos interesante. De repente la novela se convierte en una recopilación de la filosofía de vida del autor dónde expresa su opinión sobre distintos temas. El final es apresurado y no especialmente inspirado.” https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Todo, absolutamente todo, cierto y acertado; pero la frase “De repente la novela se convierte en una recopilación de la filosofía de vida del autor dónde expresa su opinión sobre distintos tema” tiene significados opuestos para nosotros de ahí la distinta valoración que hacemos del libro. (ojo, para ponerle bien tres estrellas, no cuatro o cinco)
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