Ruins

Science fiction maestro Brian Aldiss at the top of his writing powers in a rare foray into literary fiction. With a sparse elegance, Aldiss crafts a heart-breaking, heart-fixing novella delving into ideas of selfhood and human connection. Published in beautiful new collector’s livery.

‘The best contemporary writer of science fiction.’ – The Guardian

Hugh Billing is sad.

After making his fortune in the music industry decades ago, for years Hugh has been drifting. Shuttling between the US and UK on business, his life has become a testament to monotony. With every trip through customs he becomes more customary. With every departure he seems to leave a little more behind.

But when his mother's death returns him to London, Hugh draws just enough hope and courage to travel on a different journey; from loneliness and loss of purpose through to somewhere beyond just survival.

Writing at the height of his powers and with a sparse elegance, Aldiss departs from science fiction to craft a heart-breaking, heart-fixing novella that speaks to the question of human connection.

As the conversation around mental health, isolation and loneliness evolves, Brian Aldiss’ RUINS proves as prophetic and rich in insight as his science fiction.

Reviews

‘Aldiss is a magician’ Sunday Times

‘The titan of science fiction.’ Telegraph

‘Brian Aldiss is one of the most influential – and one of the best – SF writers Britain has ever produced.’ Iain M Banks

‘The best contemporary writer of science fiction.’ Guardian

‘One of the truly prophetic figures of the space age… the colossus of science fiction’
New Yorker

‘Once again he demonstrates the power of his imagination.’ Daily Mail

About the author

Brian Aldiss, OBE, was a fiction and science fiction writer, poet, playwright, critic, memoirist and artist.

Born in Norfolk in 1925, after leaving the army, Aldiss worked as a bookseller, which provided the setting for his first book, The Brightfount Diaries (1955). His first published science fiction work was the story ‘Criminal Record’, which appeared in Science Fantasy in 1954.

Passing away in 2017, over the course of his life Aldiss wrote nearly 100 books and over 300 short stories – becoming one of the pre-eminent science fiction writers of the 20th and 21st century.