Influences
Film, TV, Music, and Literary
Iain was often asked who he loved to read. This usually led to more general discussions on influences across all media so we’ve brought all these together in one place.
This list is not exhaustive, nor is it definitive – Iain constantly listened to new music, watched new films and was never without a book to read so most of the influences mentioned are things which had meant a lot, for a long time.
But let’s start with something concrete...here are specific books Iain repeatedly mentioned in interviews. They’re not in any particular order!
Watt by Samuel Beckett
Murphy by Samuel Beckett
Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow
Timescape by Gregory Benford
Tiger, Tiger by Alfred Bester
Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
The City and the Stars by Arthur C Clarke
Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke
Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen
The Favourite Game by Leonard Cohen
Nova and Babel-17 by Samuel Delaney
Selected Poems by TS Eliot
Neuromancer by William Gibson
The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass
Count Belisarius by Robert Graves
Lanark by Alasdair Gray
The Dispossessed by Ursula LeGuin
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula LeGuin
A Storm of Wings by M John Harrison
The Pastel City by M John Harrison
Dune by Frank Herbert
Dispatches by Michael Herr
Ulysses by James Joyce
The Trial by Franz Kafka
The Castle by Franz Kafka
On The Nature of the universe by Lucretius
Chickenhawk by Robert Mason
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Watchmen by Alan Moore
The Voice of the Fire by Alan Moore
Vurt by Jeff Noon
The Ghormenghast trilogy by Mervyn Peake
Any one-volume Shakespeare
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon
Eightsome Reel by Magda Sweetland
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Grimm's story by Vernor Vinge
A Fire upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
The Martian Inca by Ian Watson
The Embedding by Ian Watson
The Jonah Kit by Ian Watson
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe
Asked about books which made lasting impressions, he said, “Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, and Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas by Hunter S Thomson - just the wealth of humour in both, and they had a serious point as well. It’s hard enough to do comedy, it’s hard also to do something that makes people laugh and are viciously realistic as well.”
Here are some snippets from thirty years of interviews, talking about other writers he admired...
“M John Harrison should be a megastar, but he probably couldn’t be because he’s too rarefied a taste, I suppose.”
“John Sladek should have been the Terry Pratchett of the Seventies.”
“Almost anything by Noam Chomsky, Graham Greene, Aldous Huxley, Saul Bellow, Evelyn Waugh, and all of the standard names – Heinlein, Asimov onwards.”
“I’ve always had a soft spot for Barrington J Bayley.”
“Jane Austen is one of my favourite writers, to be mentioned in the same breath as Shakespeare and Tolstoy. There’s a profound humanity and wit in her books, plus she’s technically very good; I love the way the books are put together. I love stories and plots, and hers are very good.”
“Brian Aldiss is also one outstanding example, I loved that he straddled that post-war boom and into the New Wave, which he embraced enthusiastically and with such effect. M John Harrison, definitely.”
Iain was also devoted to Monty Python, Kafka, Ivor Cutler, Marx Brothers movies and the Goons
He loved his movies and there are many he mentioned often in interviews – these are listed here...
“Les Amants du Pont Neuf, Apocalypse Now, L'Atalante, Barbarian Queen (much funnier than Plan 9 from outer Space), The Blues Brothers, Le Boucher, Casablanca (surprise!), Catch 22, Chinatown, Citizen Kane (another surprise!), The Conformist, Dark Star, Delicatessen, Die Hard, Doctor Strangelove, Duck Soup, Les Enfants du Paradis, The General, Get Carter, The Godfather, Jaws, Leon, The Misfits, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (and Life of Brian), The Outlaw Josey Wales, Performance, Point Blank, Pulp Fiction, Queen Christina, Raising Arizona, The Searchers, Star Wars, Taxi Driver, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Untouchables, The Wages of Fear, This Is Spinal Tap and lots of others I can't think of right now...”
In the couple of years before his death, he was in discussion with Filmhouse, Edinburgh, to screen a season of his ten favourite films. He put a great deal of time and thought into that list, and agonised over limiting it to just ten movies.
“My musical tastes can partly be gleaned from a close reading of my non-SF books, but I'd certainly want to mention Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi, the Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Family, Pete Atkin, Warren Zevon, the Pogues, the Pixies and Bjork (I have a weakness for Icelandic nutters with Odd Hair).”