Ubik

Ubik is a science-fiction novel published in 1969 by the American writer Philip K. Dick. Set in 1992, the book exists in a future in which telepathy has emerged as a common tool for corporate espionage. Moreover, technology exists that allows the recently deceased to be suspended for long periods of time in a state of hibernation known as “half-life.” Among other accolades, Time magazine selected Ubik as one of the 100 greatest novels published between 1923 and 2009.

Plot Summary

Glen Runciter is a powerful executive for a corporation that employs “inertials,” individuals who are capable of negating the powers of telepaths or “psis.” His company generally works on behalf of clients seeking to combat corporate espionage. The company’s chief competition is an organization of powerful telepaths led by Ray Hollis. Meanwhile, Runciter’s wife, Ella, is stored at a futuristic moratorium in “half-life.” Though she is dead, her consciousness lives on and can be spoken to occasionally. However, Jory, a fellow half-lifer, regularly interferes with her. Jory and Ella are both considerably worried about the sudden disappearance of a number of telepaths.

Joe Chip, who works as a tester for Runciter, discovers a powerful anti-psychic talent: Pat Conley. An inertial, Pat also has the ability to revert matter and people to earlier states, thus changing the present. Joe brings Pat to Runciter, warning him that she may be dangerous.

Runciter receives a business proposition from Stanton Mick, a powerful businessman. Powerful telepaths have infiltrated Mick’s operations, and he needs Runciter Associates to help resolve the problem. Runciter, blinded partly by a huge sum of money, agrees to assemble a team to go to Mick’s moon base headquarters on Luna. The team includes Joe and Pat, along with ten other inertials.

The group lands on Luna but then falls into a trap, presumably set by Hollis. A bomb explodes that seems to kill only Glen Runciter, leaving the others alive. They rush Runciter to a half-life facility but are too late. Moreover, ever since the explosion, time and reality begin to shift for the survivors, and some of them appear to age rapidly. They receive mixed messages about whether Runciter is dead or alive. Puzzlingly, Runciter’s face begins to appear on some of the inertials’ coins.

One of the inertials, Wendy, dies in Joe’s hotel room. Her body is lifeless and sunken, as if matter has been sucked out of it. This proceeds to happen to another inertial. Joe suspects Pat and her powers may be behind this. As Joe begins to die the same way the others did, Pat mocks him. But Runciter mysteriously appears in time to spray Joe with a can of Ubik, bringing him back to life. Ubik, Runciter explains, is a substance that reverses shifts in time and reality, including the inertials’ rapid aging. Runciter adds that they are all in half-life together, including Pat—that is, they are all dead.

When Runciter leaves, an inertial named Don Denny sprays himself with Ubik. Upon doing so, he transforms into Jory, who reveals himself to be the real culprit behind what’s happening to them all. Jory sucks the energy of other half-lifers to maintain his own half-life energy. After Joe tries and fails to kill Jory, Ella appears and gives him a lifetime certificate for Ubik spray. Jory, however, reverts the remaining cans into useless powder. In trying to bring the cans back into the present time, Joe unknowingly summons a girl who brings him a usable one. She can be summoned like this anytime. Joe Chip figures that maybe he has a chance to survive and defeat Jory. Yet in the final chapter, the perspective shifts to that of Runciter who sees Joe’s face on a coin of his, lending credence to the possibility that Runciter was the sole survivor of the bombing.