Chronopolis, and other stories

Ballard's intense dystopic sci-fi short stories are generally worth a read, and in this collection won't let you down if you want a look into Ballard's dark meditations on spatial and temporal constraints – the inherent scarcity of physical existence, how modern living pushes us against these constraints constantly, and the paranoia and disorder this leads to.

Hard sci-fi fans might be annoyed by his sometimes very fantastical set-ups, but it might be good to think of these stories as allegorical future fables, mirrors to the insanity of today, rather than as dire warnings of possible futures. It might seem that Ballard is just trying and failing as a trenchant cynic, and predicting futures so dark they are simply impossible, but what is key here are his insights into social psychology and the human condition. He shows us through clarifying extremity the way our lives already operate and how the inescapable absurdity can be deathly oppressive.