'I wanted to rub the human race in its own vomit, and force it to look in the mirror'

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The Unlimited Dream Company

J. G. Ballard

When a light aircraft crashes into the Thames at Shepperton, the young pilot who struggles to the surface minutes later seems to have come back from the dead. Within hours everything in the dormitory suburb is surreally transformed. Vultures invade the rooftops, luxuriant tropical vegetation overruns the quiet avenues, and the local inhabitants are propelled by the young man’s urgent visions through ecstatic sexual celebrations towards an apocalyptic climax.

In this characteristically inventive novel Ballard displays to devastating effect the extraordinary imagination that established him as one of Britain’s most highly acclaimed writers.

This edition is part of a new commemorative series of Ballard’s works, featuring introductions from a number of his admirers (including Ali Smith, Iain Sinclair, Martin Amis and Ned Beauman) and brand-new cover designs from the artist Stanley Donwood.

Reviews of The Unlimited Dream Company

  • ‘Blindingly original … Moving, thrilling, exquisitely written’ Anthony Burgess

    ‘A remarkable piece of invention, a flight from the world of the familiar and the real into the exotic universe of dream and desire … Dense and erotic and magical, a pleasure to read’ Malcolm Bradbury, New York Times Book Review

    ‘Extraordinary … There is no doubt of the intensity and originality of the imagination … Far beyond the scope of most novelists’ Spectator

    ‘A remarkable fantasist … Ballard’s eloquence is as lush as the flowering vines he hangs from his multi-storey garages’ Observer

    ‘The terrifying thing about Ballard is his logic; is this science fiction or history written ahead of its time?’ Len Deighton

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