Sci-Fi Author Iain Banks Has Terminal Cancer

Does not expect to live more than a year

Iain Banks's trademark black humour was to the fore as the much-loved Scottish author told the world he was "officially Very Poorly" and was expected to live for just "several months".

Banks, 59, announced in a statement on Wednesday posted on his website – which rapidly crashed as thousands attempted to see the news for themselves – that he had been diagnosed with late stage gall bladder cancer, and was extremely unlikely to live beyond a year.