''Love Among the Ruins: A Romance of the Near Future'' is a 1953 novel by Evelyn Waugh. It is a satire set in a dystopian, quasi-egalitarian Britain.

Plot

The protagonist, Miles Plastic, is an orphan who, at the beginning of the story, is finishing a prison term for

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

. Crime is treated very leniently by the state, and conditions in prison are actually quite superior to those among the population at large, leading to an understandably high

recidivism Recidivism (; from ''recidive'' and ''ism'', from Latin ''recidīvus'' "recurring", from ''re-'' "back" and ''cadō'' "I fall") is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of th ...

rate. Upon release, Plastic goes to work at a state-run

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

centre. The centres are not restricted to the terminally ill and are so popular that Plastic's sole responsibility is to stem "the too eager rush" of perfectly healthy but "welfare weary" citizens. Plastic soon falls in love with Clara, a

bearded woman A bearded lady (or bearded woman) is a female with a naturally occurring beard normally due to the condition known as hirsutism or hypertrichosis. Hypertrichosis causes people of either sex to develop excess hair over their entire body (including ...

who is a "priority case" at the centre. However, she does not wish to die (she was sent there by her department) and the two begin a romance. One day, however, she suddenly disappears, and when he finds her, she has a rubber jaw replacing her formerly bearded face. Distraught, Plastic sets his former prison on fire, and, unidentified as the perpetrator of the crime, becomes elevated in status as the prison's only "successfully rehabilitated inmate." Sent to become a lecturer on the worthiness of the prison system, Plastic is directed to marry an unattractive civil servant. A curtain is drawn on the final conclusion as Plastic reaches into his pocket for his cigarette lighter.

References

Novels by Evelyn Waugh Dystopian novels 1953 British novels Novels about orphans Chapman & Hall books Novels set in the future Fiction about euthanasia Arson in fiction {{1950s-specf-novel-stub