by Iain Banks (aka Iain M. Banks)

isbn: 0743200144
subject: Fiction and Literature
finished: 9/10/2001

The Business is about a large, secretive multinational corporation: the kind of entity that conspiracy theorists love to create (it owned the Roman Empire at one point). However, unlike some of the related work, such as the Illuminatus! books and Foucault's Pendulum, Banks' book plays it fairly straight, creating a somewhat plausible cover story for the Business.

The protagonist, Kate Telman, is a level three executive in the Business: high enough to be visible to the top levels, yet low enough to be seen by them as something of a pawn. The plot centers around a long range plan -- the acquisition of a UN seat through the purchase of the small country of Thulahn -- which plays out amidst various subplots concerning Telman's love life and her suspicion of high-level corruption amongst her colleagues.

For the most part, this is a good book; only a couple of things detracted from my enjoyment. First, Banks throws in an excessive number of references to pop culture; I'm not sure what the point of this was, except to make the book confusing to anyone who reads it couple of decades from now. Second, the contrast and comparison between the poor but happy inhabitants of Thulahn and the jaded, materialist members of the Business is too overt and forced. Banks is an experienced writer and should have been able to make this work more smoothly.