I bought this for the sweeps winner as I noticed she has another Iain Banks book on her wishlist, and that she has read The Wasp Factory ( What a weird book). I read this one last year, and it is so different to TWF, that I thought it might give her a different outllok on Banks, whose books I generally love.
Hope you enjoy it xxxxxxxxxxxx

Amazon Review

The Business is the 1990s success story run riot. The eponymous organisation is ancient, rich and invisible. All it lacks is a certain political clout, something the Business has avoided for centuries but with which it is now beginning to toy. A seat in the UN is at stake as Kate Telman, Level 3 executive, is drawn into the (rather polite) machinations of her superiors. Those expecting John Grisham may be disappointed. No bad thing, perhaps: Kate's personal-professional life-- there is, of course, no conflict here for the successful individual of the 1990s--is the main concern. Banks' interest is in the moral debates about the position of the Business in a world it finds easy to manipulate, drawing the reader into a discussion of the place of the multi-national in contemporary economic and cultural life. "A lot of successful people are less hard-hearted than they like to think": is one view put forward, and not the only romantic but equivocal sentiment hiding somewhere in The Business

Sorry for the delay in journalling this. I had taken a break from bookcrossing and when I returned I thought I had been all caught up, but this book must have be missed. Thank you so much for sending this.

While this isn't normally a book I would have picked out myself, I am glad that sunlightbub shared it with me. Kate is a likeable character, as is Uncle Freddy and the Prince. I must admit to being a bit envious of Kate's lifestyle (a year sabbatical sounds heavenly). I also enjoyed how parts of the story are through e-mails and phone calls. Much different than The Wasp Factory which is the only other book I've read by Banks.