Ubik (pronounced "yoo-bik") is a 1969 science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick. In 2005, Time Magazine named it one of the one hundred greatest English-language novels published since 1923.
The novel takes place in the 'North American Confederation' in an alternate version of 1992, wherein technology has advanced to the extent of permitting civilians to reach the Moon and psi phenomena are widely accepted as real. The protagonist is Joe Chip, a debt-ridden technician for Glen Runciter's "prudence organization", which employs people with the ability to block certain psychic powers (as in the case of an anti-telepath, who can prevent a telepath from reading a client's mind) to enforce privacy by request. Runciter runs the company with the assistance of his deceased wife Ella, who is kept in a state of "half-life", a form of cryonic suspension that gives the deceased person limited consciousness and communication ability.
