''Immortality, Inc.'' is a 1959 science fiction novel by American writer

Robert Sheckley Robert Sheckley (July 16, 1928 – December 9, 2005) was an American writer. First published in the science-fiction magazines of the 1950s, his many quick-witted stories and novels were famously unpredictable, Absurdist fiction, absurdist, and ...

, originally published in a shorter form in 1958 as ''Immortality Delivered''. It was Sheckley's first novel and remains one of his most popular and critically acclaimed. The serialised form published under the title ''Time Killer'' in the magazine ''

Galaxy Science Fiction ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Edi ...

'' was nominated for the

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...

for Best Novel the same year it was released (1959). The novel has been re-released in more than 50 editions since its initial publication, including a 2014 e-book.

Premise and plot

The novel starts with its protagonist, Thomas Blaine, waking in an operating room during the procedure to give him a new host body and thus a new life. He is then soon conscious and aware of the fact he is living in the year 2110, a result of his mind being transferred into a new host body and the procedure completed. He must then learn to live with his new circumstances, as his last living moments were in 1958 and an existential struggle ensues with the new world he now finds himself living in.

In film and television

This story was first adapted as the opening episode for the third series of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

science-fiction anthology series ''

Out of the Unknown ''Out of the Unknown'' is a British television science fiction and horror anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in four series between 1965 and 1971. Most episodes of the first three series were dramatisations of s ...

'', starring

Derek Benfield Derek Benfield (11 March 1926 – 10 March 2009) was a British playwright and actor. He was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, and educated at Bingley Grammar School. He was the author of the stage farce ''Running Riot'' and pla ...

as Tom Clarke (a renamed Thomas Blaine). The master videotape for the episode was later

wiped Lost television broadcasts are television programs that were not preserved after their original airing, rendering them permanently unavailable for both public and private screening. Because of this, they are considered a form of lost media, par ...

by the corporation, and only brief video and audio clips are known to exist.

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

discuss watching it in the first part of '' The Beatles: Get Back.'' The premise was loosely adapted into the 1992 film ''

Freejack ''Freejack'' is a 1992 American science fiction film directed by Geoff Murphy and starring Emilio Estevez, Mick Jagger, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins. The screenplay was written by Steven Pressfield, Ronald Shusett and Dan Gilroy, who adap ...

''. A famous scene from the novel involving a character lost in a future New York City and mistakenly getting in line for a suicide booth was parodied in the pilot episode of ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...

''.

References

External links

Official site of Robert Sheckley
* *''Time Killer'
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at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

1959 debut novels 1959 American novels 1959 science fiction novels Debut science fiction novels American science fiction novels Rip Van Winkle-type stories Novels set in the future Novels set in the 2110s American novels adapted into films Science fiction novels adapted into films American novels adapted into television shows Novels first published in serial form Works originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction Novels by Robert Sheckley {{1950s-sf-novel-stub