The Futurological Congress

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The Futurological Congress is a 1971 satirical science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem detailing the exploits of the hero of a number of his books, Ijon Tichy, as he visits the Eighth World Futurological Congress at the Costa Rica Hilton.

[edit] Plot summary

Various adventures and misfortunes befall Ijon Tichy, most of which are the result of the government bombing the hotel (and the rest of the city) with LTN (Love Thy Neighbour) gas bombs to quell a riot. The hallucinogenic effects of the gas make the character dream about being reanimated in a time several centuries from now.

He discovers a world that gives an impression of contentness and wealth, but later realizes that all of it is a sham based on intake of mind altering chemicals (called "cryptochemocracy" by one character), e.g. a chemical that "masks" the reality of freezing weather (a new Ice Age has started).

More significantly, it is a world where there is no hope of actually getting through to the "true" reality since the government officials, who are supposed to see things as they are, are also targets of chemical mind alteration by their fellows. Indeed, using such drugs has become the only possible way to convince officials of anything. By taking various anti-hallucinogens, the character sees different layers of reality, one worse (showing greater poverty and decay) than the other. However, he probably never actually finds the ultimate truth since there is no escape from hallucinations. Eventually, he (apparently) wakes up back at the Hilton and realizes that it was all a dream that incorporated futurological themes because he has heard so much on the subject during the conference.