Everything Belongs to the Future by Penny L

Everything Belongs to the Future by Penny L

Everything Belongs to the Future is a bloody-minded tale of time, betrayal, desperation, and hope that could only have been told by the inimitable Laurie Penny.

Time is a weapon wielded by the rich, who have excess of it, against the rest, who must trade every breath of it against the promise of another day's food and shelter. What kind of world have we made, where human beings can live centuries if only they can afford the fix? What kind of creatures have we become? The same as we always were, but keener.

In the ancient heart of Oxford University, the ultra-rich celebrate their vastly extended lifespans. But a few surprises are in store for them. From Nina and Alex, Margo and Fidget, scruffy anarchists sharing living space with an ever-shifting cast of crusty punks and lost kids. And also from the scientist who invented the longevity treatment in the first place.

"The scariest, most enduring dystopias walk a fine line between parable and prediction. Penny erases that line. In this made-up story, the rich speciate from the poor; in our real world, working class lifespans are declining as the one percent live ever longer lives at ever-greater removes from the rest of us. This is no mere literary device. This is a pitiless allegory, calculated to enrage and terrify its readers." -- Cory Doctorow

Laurie Penny is a London-based journalist, feminist, and political activist. She contributes to the New Statesman and the Guardian on a regular basis, as well as the Independent, Red Pepper, and the Evening Standard. Meat Market: Female Flesh Under Capitalism is her first book. She's hosted Channel 4's Dispatches and served on the BBC's Any Questions panel. In 2010, her blog, 'Penny Red,' was nominated for the Orwell Prize.