2018 A.D. by Sam J. Lundwall
"2018 A.D." is a novel set in a bleak, polluted future characterized by rampant commercialism and societal corruption. The story unfolds primarily in Stockholm, Sweden, where the protagonist, Anniki Norijn, navigates a dystopian world that has forgotten her significance as the first baby born in Sweden in the year 2000. Stripped of her identity due to systemic failures, she is forced into a life of unofficial prostitution while a powerful advertising executive, Leonard W. Kockenbergh, Jr., seeks to exploit her for a marketing campaign linked to a new product.
The narrative highlights the influence of a wealthy oil sheik who manipulates the global economy through a complex web of anonymous Swiss bank accounts, underscoring themes of power and control in a world driven by corporate interests. As the protagonist's story intersects with the advertising world, the novel critiques the commodification of identity and the ethical dilemmas within a profit-driven society. The climax involves a confrontation between traditional values and the overwhelming force of modern capitalism, culminating in a decision that could reshape the future of the world. "2018 A.D." offers a thought-provoking exploration of identity, economic power, and the consequences of a commodified existence, prompting readers to reflect on the trajectory of contemporary society.
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Subject Terms
2018 A.D.
First published:King Kong Blues: En berattelse fran ar 2018 (1974; English translation, 1975)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction—dystopia
Time of work: 2018
Locale: Sweden and the sheikdom of Khuri
The Plot
This novel, first published in Swedish, depicts a polluted future world dominated by crass commercialism. The main character struggles to make a living in the corrupt advertising profession. This world’s economy is unfortunately dependent on a bored oil sheik who plays games with the international financial market.
Sam Lundwall’s novel opens in Stockholm, Sweden, where the reader witnesses a wedding in a department store. The wedding is televised, accompanied by subliminal advertising. Only the salespeople have transmitters that shield them from the flood of advertising. One of the salespeople steps on the foot of a young woman, who runs out of the store when she suddenly comes back to her senses. That woman turns out to be Anniki Norijn, whose claim to fame was that she was the first Swedish baby born in the year 2000. She is also one of the people not listed anywhere in the extensive network of computers; her name was lost by the computer system. That means that she was not exposed to the controls of the government. This lack of a proper identity forced her into becoming an unofficial prostitute because she could not use the official system of credit-exchange.
Society has forgotten about the first Swedish baby of the new millennium, but Leonard W. Kockenbergh, Jr., the director of the Inter-Ad advertising company, has plans to use her in his latest campaign for Yonston’s new armpit cream. It is his intent to promote the product as a sign of progress by linking it with the first person born in Sweden in the year 2000. He orders his youngest assistant, Erik Lenning, to find the woman and to win her cooperation in the advertising campaign.
Soon it is revealed that Inter-Ad is owned by MultiCo, a giant company that holds the majority of stock in Swedish Shell, General Motors, Esso, International Business Machines, International Telephone and Telegraph, and other large corporations. MultiCo in turn is held by a Swiss bank account, as all of Sweden is held in anonymous Swiss bank accounts. There are 322 accounts in Zurich, Switzerland, that virtually control the economy of the entire planet.
Lenning’s task of locating the woman desired for the ad campaign is difficult because he has to go into the trenches of this futuristic society to find Norijn. He enters the underworld of Stockholm, which is maintained by the mafia as a tourist attraction. He also finds the real underworld and is confronted with and learns a lot about the problems of Swedish society in the twenty-first century.
Later in the novel, it becomes clear that all the Swiss bank accounts are controlled by Sheik Yarasin ar-Rechehidd, who tries to protect his country (the sheikdom of Khuri) from a possible foreign takeover. He decides that the best way to prevent such an event is to buy out the rest of the world. His brother, Sheik Umir, is a traditional Bedouin and does not approve of his brother’s actions. Toward the end of the book, Yarasin becomes bored with controlling the world.
Lenning finally finds Norijn; however, this has become irrelevant, as Kockenbergh has decided not to have a Miss Armpit campaign after all. At the same time, Sheik Umir manages to convince his sibling that the only worthy life is that of a Bedouin who needs only a rifle, a camel, a tent, and women. Umir has his brother’s tent burned and the one telephone line cut. The last message sent by Umir to Switzerland is “sell everything,” which translates into the end of Western capitalism.