Sci-Fi Novels/Short Stories about Overpopulation Index
Extrapolating the social ramifications of an overpopulated world is a theme in science fiction (especially from the 60s and 70s) which particularly interests me. Not only can an overpopulated world make a fascinating backdrop to a straightforward plot (Robert Silverberg’s The Time Hoppers) but can also serve as the motivating superstructure of an entire novel (John Brunner’s monolithic Stand on Zanzibar).
An overpopulated world is often characterized by a breakdown of existing cultural and moral barriers, the “mechanization” or increasing “programmability” of mankind, societal good increasingly aimed at production or reproduction, landscapes plagued by extreme pollution (disease, extinctions, etc), and of course, a protagonist with traditionalist philosophies (for example, remembering the allure of “working the land” in the past less-populated world).
I’ve decided to compile a list (updated as I discover more) of sci-fi books and movies (my review in bold) which feature overpopulation in some form or another. I’ve listed them by release date.
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Science Fiction Novels/Short Stories
Isaac Asimov, The Caves of Steel (1954), 4/5 (Good)
Frederik Pohl, ‘The Census Takers’ (1956), (unread)
J. G. Ballard, ‘The Concentration City’ (variant titles: ‘Build-Up’ and ‘The Disaster Area’) (1957), 4.75/5 (Very Good)
Robert Silverberg, Master of Life and Death (1957), .25/5 (horrible)
Robert Sheckley, ‘The Minimum Man’ (1958), 4.25/5 (Good)
C. M. Kornbluth, ‘Shark Ship’ (1958), (unread)
Robert Bloch, This Crowded Earth (1958), (unread)
Anthony Burgess, The Wanting Seed (1962), (unread)
J. G. Ballard, ‘Billenium’ (1962), (unread)
Lester Del Rey, The Eleventh Commandment (1962, revised 1970), 3.75/5 (Good)
Frederik Pohl, ‘The Deadly Mission of Phineas Snodgrass’ (1962, revised as ‘The Deadly Mission of P. Snodgrass’, 1970), (unread)
Jane Roberts, The Rebellers (1963), (unread)
Brian W. Aldiss, Earthworks (1965), rating: 3.5/5 (Average)
D. G. Compton, The Quality of Mercy (1965), rating: 4/5 (Good)
Harry Harrison, Make Room! Make Room! (1966) (unread)
Roger Zelazny, The Dream Master (1966), (unread)
Philip E. High, The Mad Metropolis (1966), (unread)
Robert Silverberg, To Open the Sky (1967) (unread)
Robert Silverberg, The Time Hoppers (1967), rating: 2.5/5 (Average)
Louis Charbonneau, Down to Earth (1967), rating: 2/5 (Bad)
Irving A. Greenfield, Waters of Death (1967), rating: 1/5 (Terrible)
James Blish and Norman L. Knight, A Torrent of Faces (1967), (unread)
John Brunner, Stand on Zanibar (1968), rating: 5/5 (Masterpiece — my all time favorite sci-fi novel)
Robert Sheckley, ‘The People Trap’ (1968), (unread)
Kurt Vonnegut, ‘Welcome to the Monkey House’ (1968), (unread)
James Blish, ‘We All Die Naked’ (1969), rating: 4/5 (Good)
Roger Zelazny, ‘The Eve of RUMOKO’ (1969), rating: 3/5 (Average)
Joanna Russ, And Chaos Died (1970), rating 4.5/5 (Very Good)
Dean R. Koontz, Anti-Man (1970), (unread)
Don Pendleton, 1989: Population Doomsday (variant title: Population Doomsday) (1970), (unread)
T. J. Bass, Half Past Human (1971), rating: 2.5/5 (Average)
Gordon R. Dickson, The Outposter (1971), unread
Robert Silverberg, The World Inside (1971), rating: 5/5 (Masterpiece)
Max Ehrlich, The Edict (1971), (unread)
Ursula Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven (1971), (unread)
Kurt Vonnegut, ‘The Big Space Fuck’ (1972), (unread)
Thomas M. Disch, 334 (1972), (unread)
Michael Elder, Nowhere on Earth (1972), (unread)
Edmund Cooper, The Tenth Planet (1973), (unread)
John Jakes, On Wheels (1973), (unread)
Michael G. Coney, Friends Come in Boxes (1973), unread
Stanislaw Lem, The Futurological Congress (1974), 4.5/5 (Very Good)
John Hershey, My Petition for More Space (1974), (unread)
J. G. Ballard, High-Rise (1975), rating: 4.5/5 (Very Good)
Evelyn E. Smith, Unpopular Planet (1975), (unread)
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Time of the Fourth Horseman (1976), (unread)
Mark Adlard, Interface (1977), (unread)
Axel Madsen, Unisave (1980), (unread)
Philip José Farmer, Dayworld (1985), (unread)
Philip José Farmer, Dayworld Rebel (1987), (unread)
Barry B. Longyear, Sea of Glass (1987), (unread)
Philip José Farmer, Dayworld Breakup (1990), (unread)
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Science Fiction Anthologies
Future City (1972), ed. Roger Elwood, rating: 3.25/5 (Average)
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Science Fiction Movies
Michael Campus, J.P.G (1972), (unseen)
Richard Fleischer, Soylent Green (1973), rating: 6.75/10 (Average)
Joachim Boaz
Amazing List! All on the tbr list now.
Some are quite terrible — for example, Silverberg’s Master of Life and Death. I highly recommend Brunner’s Stand on Zanzibar, Ballard’s High-Rise, Silverberg’s The World Inside Compton’s The Quality of Mercy, and Joanna Russ’ And Chaos Died…
Thanks for stopping by!
Vonnegut.
Which Vonnegut?
Silverberg’s The World Inside is brilliant, isn’t it? I’d also add Burgess’s The Wanting Seed.
Thanks! I loved The World Inside as well…. still a somewhat controversial book for the gender dynamics it proposes….
Well that tears it, I need to get a copy of Stand on Zanzibar! And I realize this is a douchey thing to do (soliciting opinions) but I wrote a dystopian story based on overpopulation and water depletion (Source). Any interest in taking a look at it?
I’m trying to locate a short story I read 30 years ago about a public relations guy who is hired to help the government develop a program to reduce the population. He comes up with several ideas promoting sterility, suicide, etc. but the program works a little too well & things spiral out of control with mass suicides, death-cults & the like. In the end he’s left with the last group of people on earth who are counting on him to mate with the last females to repopulate the earth. I remember the last line of the story was “I don’t have the heart to tell them I’m sterile”. I also remember that the President of the USA now dresses up like Uncle Sam (lol). It was a fantastic story & I wish I could find it again. Any help would be greatly appreciated.