The Futurological Congress

by Stanislaw Lem

Published 1 November 1974

'A giant of twentieth-century science fiction' Guardian

'This Room Guaranteed BOMB-FREE. From the Management'

Hapless cosmonaut Ijon Tichy has been sent back to earth to attend the Eighth Futurological Congress in smog-bound, overpopulated Costa Rica, holed up with an assortment of scientists in a luxury hotel (fully equipped with tear gas sprinklers in case things get out of hand). But when an unfortunate incident occurs involving a revolution and hallucinogenic drugs in the water supply, Tichy finds himself shot, frozen and thawed out in a future beyond anything he could ever have imagined.


The Cyberiad

by Stanislaw Lem

Published 26 August 1975

A charming, mind-bending and anarchic book of imagined civilizations

'Most cosmic civilizations long for things, in the depths of their souls, they would never openly admit to...'

Trurl and Klapaucius are 'constructors' - they travel around the universe creating machines of astonishing inventiveness and power and visiting a bewildering variety of violent, peculiar and morose civilizations. The Cyberiad is oddly reminiscent of Gulliver's Travels, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Phantom Tollbooth and Alice in Wonderland. Charming, mind-bending and anarchic, it is perhaps Lem's greatest work. This edition includes all of Daniel Mroz's hallucinatory original illustrations.