Scottish novelist Iain Banks has cancer and is unlikely to live long, he admitted today.

The acclaimed writer of The Wasp Factory and The Crow Road has revealed he has gall bladder cancer and has just "several months" to live.

In a personal statement on his official website, Iain Banks, 59, said he asked his partner Adele to marry him and is now on a short honeymoon.

The author, who also writes science fiction under the name Iain M Banks, added that novel The Quarry, which has been delivered to the publisher Little Brown and is due out this year, looks like it "will be my last."

All planned public engagements have been cancelled and he said he intends to spend as much quality time left seeing friends and family.

Banks said he is considering a course of chemotherapy, "however that is still something we’re balancing the pros and cons of."

A website is being set up for friends, family and fans to leave messages for him and check on his progress.

Ian Rankin has expressed his sadness at the news on Twitter.  He wrote: " Typical of Iain to propose marriage to his partner Adele with the words 'Will you do me the honour of becoming my widow?'".  He also added "some of you will remember me hinting at this news a few weeks back. Just awful."

He had previously tweeted on March 14: "Some very bad news about a very good friend. I tend not to swear on here, but I'm tempted."

Iain Banks said in the statement:

"I am officially Very Poorly.

"After a couple of surgical procedures, I am gradually recovering from jaundice caused by a blocked bile duct, but that - it turns out - is the least of my problems.

"I first thought something might be wrong when I developed a sore back in late January, but put this down to the fact I'd started writing at the beginning of the month and so was crouched over a keyboard all day.

"When it hadn't gone away by mid-February, I went to my GP, who spotted that I had jaundice. Blood tests, an ultrasound scan and then a CT scan revealed the full extent of the grisly truth by the start of March.

"I have cancer. It started in my gall bladder, has infected both lobes of my liver and probably also my pancreas and some lymph nodes, plus one tumour is massed around a group of major blood vessels in the same volume, effectively ruling out any chance of surgery to remove the tumours either in the short or long term.

"The bottom line, now, I'm afraid, is that as a late stage gall bladder cancer patient, I'm expected to live for 'several months' and it’s extremely unlikely I'll live beyond a year. So it looks like my latest novel, The Quarry, will be my last.

"As a result, I've withdrawn from all planned public engagements and I've asked my partner Adele if she will do me the honour of becoming my widow (sorry - but we find ghoulish humour helps).

"By the time this goes out we'll be married and on a short honeymoon. We intend to spend however much quality time I have left seeing friends and relations and visiting places that have meant a lot to us. Meanwhile my heroic publishers are doing all they can to bring the publication date of my new novel forward by as much as four months, to give me a better chance of being around when it hits the shelves.

"There is a possibility that it might be worth undergoing a course of chemotherapy to extend the amount of time available. However that is still something we're balancing the pros and cons of, and anyway it is out of the question until my jaundice has further and significantly, reduced.

"Lastly, I'd like to add that from my GP onwards, the professionalism of the medics involved - and the speed with which the resources of the NHS in Scotland have been deployed - has been exemplary, and the standard of care deeply impressive. We're all just sorry the outcome hasn't been more cheerful.

"A website is being set up where friends, family and fans can leave messages for me and check on my progress. It should be up and running during this week and a link to it will be here on my official website as soon as it’s ready."

Fellow novelist Val McDermid said his statement about his illness was typical of the man.

She said: "One of the features of Iain's writing is that in the darkest moments he manages to find humanity and humour.

"I bought a paperback of the Wasp Factory when it came out and I remember being blown away by it because I had never read anything like it.

"What it had was a real darkness and a page turning quality and what stopped it from being a little shop of horrors was the humour, which gave it another dimension."

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond said: "This is terribly sad news. Iain Banks is a remarkable writer who has made a lasting contribution to Scottish literature and culture, inspiring and enthralling readers for 30 years.

"My thoughts are very much with Iain, his wife and family and his friends at this very difficult time."

Further reaction to the news has been posted on twitter.

Janice Forsyth commented: "Oh dear - such sad news about darling Iain Banks. Much love to him and his loved ones."

Hugo Rifkind has tweeted: "Sad to hear Iain Banks is sick. He's high up in that horribly shrinking list of living people who made me want to write and write and write."

tweeted: "Dear Iain Banks - if anyone collects these tweets and shows them to you - thank you. Your books moved me so much. You will be missed."

 

In 2008, Banks was named one of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945 in a list compiled by The Times.

The writer was born in Dunfermline to a professional ice skater and an officer in the Admiralty. After studying at the University of Stirling he spent some time in London, before moving back to Edinburgh and Fife to continue a career in writing.

His first novel, The Wasp Factory, was published in 1984 to great critical acclaim. He followed it with Walking on Glass, The Bridge and The Crow Road, which was adapted into a BBC TV series in 1996.

It also features what is considered one of the best opening lines in a novel: "It was the day my grandmother exploded."

His novel Complicity was adapted into a 2000 film directed by Gavin Millar.

Stonemouth, published last year, is his 26th novel, and The Quarry is due to be published this year.

He has also written 12 books under Iain M Banks, his science fiction nom de plume. His science fiction works include the Culture series , the first of which,  Consider Phlebas, was published in 1987.

He has spoken of his love of writing: "I write because I love it, I enjoy it, I've spent most of my life trying to do it better, and I can make a living from it: beats a day job."

He married his first wife Annie in Hawaii in 1992, and after 15 years of marriage they separated. She died in 2009.

He lives in North Queensferry with author Adele Hartley.