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
2. A Gift from the Culture
3. Odd Attachment
4. Descendant
5. Cleaning Up
6. Piece
7. The State Of The Art
8. Scratch

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.