''Dayworld'' is a science fiction novel by American writer

Philip José Farmer Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. Obituary. Farmer is best known for his sequences of novels, especially the ''World of Tiers ...

. Published in 1985, it is the first in the

Dayworld ''Dayworld'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Philip José Farmer. Published in 1985, it is the first in the Dayworld (trilogy), Dayworld tetralogy of novels inspired by Farmer's own 1971 short story "The Sliced-Crosswise Only-On-T ...

tetralogy of novels inspired by Farmer's own 1971 short story "

The Sliced-Crosswise Only-On-Tuesday World "The Sliced-Crosswise Only-On-Tuesday World" is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip José Farmer, first published in 1971 in ''New Dimensions 1: Fourteen Original Science Fiction Stories.'' The story later formed the basis for F ...

". There are two sequels - ''

Dayworld Rebel ''Dayworld Rebel'' is a 1987 science fiction novel by American writer Philip José Farmer, the second book in the Dayworld Trilogy. Plot summary In this sequel, Jeff Caird has created a new personality for himself submerging his previous persona ...

'' (1987) and ''

Dayworld Breakup ''Dayworld Breakup'' is a 1990 science fiction novel by American writer Philip José Farmer, the last book in the Dayworld Trilogy. Notes See also *Philip José Farmer bibliography In a writing career spanning more than 60 years (1946–2008), ...

'' (1990) - and one prequel, '' Dayworld: A Hole in Wednesday'', co-authored by Danny Adams (2016).

Plot summary

The story is set in a

dystopian A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

future in which an overpopulated world solves the problem by allocating people only one day per week. For the rest of the six days they are "stoned", a kind of

suspended animation Suspended animation is the temporary (short- or long-term) slowing or stopping of biological function so that physiological capabilities are preserved. It may be either hypometabolic or ametabolic in nature. It may be induced by either endogen ...

. The novels focus on a man, Jeff Caird, who is a daybreaker, someone who lives more than one day a week. He is not like most daybreakers; he belongs to a government defying group called the “Immers”. The Immers are a very large and powerful group that works to create a better government. Not all Immers are daybreakers, so to get messages and information from one day to the next, they have daybreakers, like Jeff, to work in every day. The daybreakers of the Immers assume seven different personalities and seven different jobs. They slip from culture to culture, in seven different worlds. As Jeff goes day to day, he runs into problems while working as an Immer and as a daybreaker, and must cover his tracks, all while trying to keep up with his seven different lives, families, friends, and jobs. Eventually the stress makes Jeff unstable, and the Immers must dispose of him to keep the rest of the Immers safe. Jeff, wanting to live, tries to escape the Immers, but there are undercover Immers in every job, area, and government level. Jeff is caught and put in a sort of insane asylum, classified with “

multiple personality disorder Dissociative identity disorder (DID), better known as multiple personality disorder or multiple personality syndrome, is a mental disorder characterized by the presence of at least two distinct and relatively enduring personality states. The di ...

”, for the legal time before he can be considered “incurable” and killed. But Jeff has an escape plan…

Reception

Dave Langford David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'', and holds the all-time record for most ...

reviewed ''Dayworld'' for ''

White Dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes fro ...

'' #84, and stated that "another fast-moving example of a far-out social setup within which the author merely plays cops and robbers."

Awards and recognition

The novel was nominated for the Best SF Novel

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...

poll in 1986, classifying 23rd.

References

1985 American novels Dystopian novels Novels by Philip José Farmer Overpopulation fiction 1985 science fiction novels Books with cover art by Don Ivan Punchatz {{1980s-sf-novel-stub