The World Jones Made (1956)

The World Jones Made is a 1956 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, examining notions of precognition, humanity, and politics. It was first published by Ace Books as one half of Ace Double D-150, bound dos-à-dos with Agent of the Unknown by Margaret St. Clair.The story takes place after a nuclear war in which society is dominated by relativism, which rejects absolute truths and preaches tolerance as the highest principle. The mutant Floyd Jones, who can see into the future, plans to overthrow the system and colonise space. The story ends with the defeat of Jones, whose plans fail despite his ability to see the future due to the immutability of fate.

Plot summary

After the Third World War at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the USA is under the control of the authoritarian Fedgov. Radioactivity has caused mutants to develop, but they can no longer exist in the Earth's normal atmosphere. They are cared for in a controlled environment that is tailored to their biological needs. One of the mutants, Louis, who does not believe this, tries to persuade the others to break out. Louis eventually persuades three other young mutants to attempt an escape with him. Meanwhile, Dr Rafferty, the head of the Biosphere, and Fedgov agent Doug Cussick observe the escape attempt. In a flashback, Doug Cussick, then in charge of enforcing relativism, meets fortune teller Floyd Jones at a fair. Jones advertises that he can predict the fate of mankind one year into the future. Jones makes two predictions: Firstly, a nationalist named Ernest T. Saunders will win the next election for the presidency. Secondly, ‘drifters’, beings from another planet, will become an important issue in the future.

Doug Cussick reports the event to his superior, Security Director Pearson. Cussick's report that Jones apparently knew high-level information about the true nature of the Drifters shocks Pearson. If Jones really is a pre-cog, he is not violating relativism by telling the truth about future events. Doug Cussick is transferred to Denmark, where he meets his future wife Nina Longstren, an artist and sceptic of relativism. Cussick informs his wife that Jones' notoriety has been rising since he joined a new religious movement and has been making prophecies about future encounters with aliens. Later, Cussick, Max Kaminski and security director Pearson question Jones. Jones is confident that he will be released in three days. He also reveals that he is afraid of his abilities and where they will lead him.

Jones makes it clear that the things he is experiencing are in the past for him and cannot be changed. The agents suggest that Floyd Jones help with a reconstruction project. Jones refuses. He believes that people should aim for the stars instead of clinging to an ‘overpopulated’ Earth.

Jones is inspired by the Drifters who are colonising the cosmos. Eventually Pearson confesses that Drifters have already landed on Earth, which in turn confirms the truth of Jones' statements and makes it impossible to arrest him as an offence against relativism.

In 2002, despite the ban on harming the Drifters who have landed on Earth, riots break out against them. The situation with Jones and his movement worsens. Drifters are being killed despite the laws, and his movement is becoming more and more powerful. Kaminski realises that the Drifters are just a means for Jones to gain support. While on a date with some friends in a San Francisco bar, Cussick learns that his wife is a member of the Floyd Jones movement. Doug confronts her, but Nina plays it down. Cussick does not accept this and separates from his wife. The signs that Jones could soon take power become ever clearer, and there are regular marches on the streets.

Their goal is to discover a second Earth through an interstellar crusade. They also call for the Fedgov to be disbanded and for Jones to be appointed commander-in-chief to deal with the crisis. When Cussick returns home, he finds a recorded message from Security Director Pearson, who tells Cussick to return to Secpol's office. At the office, Cussick learns that the Max Kaminski he mentioned has stolen a large amount of secret documents that he was going to deliver to the Jones movement. He was captured and sent to a labour camp in Saskatchewan. Cussick is promoted to take Kaminski's place and is put in charge of the security of Dr Rafferty's secret project. This is an artificial biosphere in which genetically modified mutants are being prepared for life on Venus.

Cussick realises that the Fedgov have been planning to colonise other planets for a long time. However, while Jones favours military means, the Fedgov pursues a scientific solution. In the meantime, Floyd Jones holds a rally in which he calls for the expansion of humanity to other systems and condemns the Fedgov's ‘plutocracy’.

Pearson is forced to realise that Jones' precognitive abilities make it impossible to defeat him. Cussick and Pearson then travel to San Francisco to meet with Dr Rafferty. On their arrival, Pearson is arrested by Jones' supporters.

At the same time, the genetically modified mutants are on their way to Venus. Some time after the landing of the first eight mutants, the colony thrives. While exploring the surface, the colonists come across a dead drifter. They find another one that has not only survived, but has developed into a zygote. They learn that the drifters are actually pollen from a plant-like creature. On Earth, Floyd Jones learns that human scientists have made the same discovery. The pollen use the planet as a womb before they leave for the interplanetary medium, where they spend their adult lives. Their relationship to Earth is the same as that of the Venus mutants to their home. This also proves that the drifters are not a threat in themselves, something Jones could not have foreseen at first. With this discovery, Jones realises that his movement has failed.