46. A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Penguin, 1932
Set in 26th Century London, Huxley's novel was written more as social commentary than science fiction. In this dystopian world, test-tube or rather bottled babies, promiscuity and mood altering drugs are the norm. Henry Ford becomes a messianic figure - his name is even used as a curse word as in, "Oh, Ford!" and the calendar based on his life span. The first part of the novel centres on Bernard Marx, a non-conformist whose physical appearance, ideas and behaviour make him an outcast. The true protagonist John the Savage, however, is not introduced until the second part of the novel when Marx visits the pueblo of Malpais in the New Mexican Savage Reservation and brings John and his ailing mother back to London.