HE spoke about his own insignificance in the context of the sheer scale of the universe just weeks before his death, but now Iain Banks has been immortalised by a fan who has had an asteroid officially named after the Scots author.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has approved an application to rename asteroid 5099 after the author following a request by a fan of his science-fiction novels. It will be now referred to as the Iainbanks.

The space rock, which measures 3.8 miles in diameter and takes 3.94 years to complete an orbit of the Sun, is described as having a stoney composition – perhaps appropriate for the writer who remained unshaken despite being diagnosed with terminal gall bladder cancer. He died aged 59 on June 8, months after announcing his illness publicly in April.

The IAU citation describes Banks as "an evangelical atheist and lover of whisky, he scorned social media and enjoyed writing music", adding that he "was an extra in Monty Python & The Holy Grail".