The State of the Art forms a collection of short fiction, mainly science fiction, by Iain M. Banks. The title novella and some of the stories deal with aspects of his future society, The Culture. In particular, the novella chronicles a Culture mission to Earth, and also serves as a prequel of sorts to Use of Weapons, featuring some earlier activities of one of that novel's characters, Diziet Sma.

This book includes a variety of styles: among the first- and third-person narratives, The State of the Art itself appears in the form of an edited report.

The contents comprise:

1. Road of Skulls - originally published in 20 under 35, Peter Straus (ed.) 1988, Sceptre, ISBN 340486376. With the subtitle; Original Stories by Britain’s Best New Writers, this anthology hoped to “showcase those writers who would emerge in the 1990s”.
2. A Gift from the Culture - originally published in Interzone #20, Summer 1987 with illustrations by SMS.
3. Odd Attachment - originally published in Arrows of Eros, Alex Stewart (ed.) 1989, New English Library, ISBN 045050249X.
4. Descendant - originally published in Tales from the Forbidden Planet, Roz Kaveney (ed.) 1987, Titan Books, ISBN 1852860049.
5. Cleaning Up - originally published by Birmingham Science Fiction Group as the Souvenir Book for Novacon 17 in a limited edition of 500.
6. Piece - originally published in The Observer Magazine on 13th August 1989 with illustrations by Peter Knock. Piece was also adapted for radio by Craig Warner and broadcast on BBC Radio 5, 6th June 1991.
7. The State Of The Art - originally published as a stand alone novella in 1989, Mark V. Ziesing, ISBN 0929480066. The cover art was by Arnie Fenner, and a limited edition of 400 books in a slipcase, and signed by both artist and author was also issued.
8. Scratch - originally published in The Fiction Magazine vol. 6, No. 6, Jul/Aug 1987.

The collection was published in the US for the first time in 2004 by Night Shade Books . The limited edition of this release contains additional material by Banks not found in the UK version. This is non-fiction and poetry.

Banks does not seem to have produced any other short fiction, suggesting that he finds the novel a more natural form.