The Wasp Factory was the first novel by Scottish writer Iain Banks. It was published in 1984. Written from the first person perspective, it is a narrative told by sixteen-year-old Frank Cauldhame, describing his childhood and all that remains of it. Frank observes many religious rituals of his own invention. As the novel develops, his brothers escape from a mental hospital and impending return lead on to a violent ending and a twist that undermines all that Frank believed about himself