Iain Banks has died, aged 59. The bestselling Scottish author had announced in April he was “officially very poorly” as he was suffering from gall bladder cancer. Banks told his the world he expected to live just another few months.

In a statement released today his publisher said Banks was “an irreplaceable part of the literary world.”

Banks first found fame with his 1984 debut novel The Wasp Factory and earned a cult following with works such as Whit, Stonemouth and The Crow Road. The Wasp factory as named one of the 20th century’s 100 greatest novels in a poll conducted by Channel 4 and Waterstones.