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Immortality, Inc. cover art

Immortality, Inc.

By: Robert Sheckley
Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
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Summary

Want to be immortal? You can be in AD 2110. Just go to the Hereafter Insurance Corporation and hook yourself up to the Machine. There’s nothing to fear. That is, if it happens to be working right, and if nobody slips another mind into your body when you’re not looking, and if you’re not on a poltergeist hatelist…

First published in 1959 as a startling, revolutionary novel of the future—then pushed to new cinematic limits as the feature film adaptation Freejack in 1992—Robert Sheckley’s unsettling vision of tomorrow is a trenchantly witty novel of a future where everything has improved except the bumbling human race, which just can’t let itself enjoy a good thing when it finally gets it.

Thomas Blaine awoke in a white bed in a white room and heard someone say, “He’s alive now.” Then they asked him his name, age, and marital status. Yes, that seemed normal enough—but what was this talk about “death trauma”?

Thus was Thomas Blaine introduced to the year 2110, when science had discovered the technique of transferring a man’s consciousness from one body to another, when a man’s mind could be snatched from the past, as his body was at the point of death, and brought forward into a “host body” in this fantastic future world.

But that was only a small part of it, for the future had proved the reality of life after death and discovered worlds beyond or simultaneous with our own—worlds where, through scientific techniques, a man could live again, in another body, when he died here—and had in the process established the reality of ghosts, poltergeists, and zombies.

What did it all mean? How had this discovery of what they called the “hereafter” shaped the world of 2110?

Thomas Blaine found himself living in a future where the discoveries and techniques imagined by people of his time, though realized, were completely overwhelmed by discoveries no one had ever dreamed of.

©1959 Robert Sheckley (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

Praise for Robert Sheckley: “Sheckley has long been considered one of the genre’s leading humorists.” ( New York Times Book Review)

What listeners say about Immortality, Inc.

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    4 out of 5 stars

Great nook read not so greatly

I have really enjoyed the content of this book but the voices used (other than the main narration) were ridiculous and have diminished the overall quality of this audiobook. Nevertheless I do recommend it.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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I definitely wasn't expecting this

It was only afterwards I found out this was written in 1958. Knowing this made the book all the better, it had SciFi imagery that modern authors can't reach.

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2 people found this helpful

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Very well written

It was a very good audiobook, with a morbid twist that had me on edge and wanting to listen all the time. Narrator was enjoyable to listen to as he gave the characters different voices and accents.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely brilliant

Very good. Subtle, humorous, offers a lot to think about. Would most certainly recommend. Very good performance from the reading actor as well.

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

good story well read

I got this audio book because I heard this is what the film Johnny Nemonic was based on. I'll be listening to more from this auther as I enjoyed it.

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very good book

I thought this was quite a good humorous story that also had elements of seriousness and presented some interesting things to think about.

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  • Overall
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5 stars is not a high enough rating

The combination of a hugely inventive and and intelligent story with Bronson Pinchot's incredible and involving narration makes for an absolutely stunning listen. I listened to this after 'Dimensions of Miracles' and now rate Sheckley as one of my favourite authors. This is nothing short of brilliant and I highly recommned it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Recommend 5/5

Recommend 5/5 for anyone who enjoys some sci-fi and not so regular storyline

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Awesome!!!!

The story is great, it doesn't feel like it's been written decades ago (apart from the use of an inappropriate word to describe a PoC!!). The narration is absolutely fantastic and definitely makes the book even better.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good story, worst narrator.

The narrator reads way too fast, like he’s a kid trying to prove he can. Setting the speed to 0.85x makes it a little more bearable but that does take away the horrible voices he puts on for some of the supporting characters and the horrible overacting for others.

I enjoyed the story it is worth reading, not listening to with this narrator.

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