LtW is great! I feel like Player of Games is one of the best for presenting what an imperialistic/competitive society would look like to an outsider. I really enjoyed the title story in State of the Art as well, that angle on "modern" society was really enjoyable.
I've been seeing rumors swirling for a few years now about a HBO/Netflix/Showtime style television remake of Consider Phlebas. I sure hope they come true :-)
Player of Games is forever etched into my mind... one particular scene when the "conspiracy" of the society is uncovered is too vivid/grotesque to forget, lol. I don't think I've read State of the Art, I'll have to keep that one in mind. That would be really cool to see movie/show adaptions of his stories!
Ya, that book is intense, kinda gruesome, and the end definitely had me surprised (always a great thing!)
SotA is a book of short stories he wrote, 2 or 3 (I forget) of which are in the Culture. The main one (the title story) is about a contact unit visiting Earth in the... 60s or 70s. It was really cool to experience his social commentary in such a more direct way than usual.