The Complete Short Stories: Volume 1. Adam Thirlwell

      J.G. BALLARD

       The Complete Short Stories

      VOLUME I

       COPYRIGHT

      Fourth Estate

      An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 77–85 Fulham Palace Road London W6 8JB 4thestate.co.uk

      This edition published by Fourth Estate in 2014

      First published in Great Britain by Flamingo in 2001

      This collection copyright © J. G. Ballard 2001

      Most of the stories in this book previously appeared in the following collections: The Voices of Time © J. G. Ballard 1963 The Terminal Beach © J. G. Ballard 1964

      The right of J. G. Ballard to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.

      Introduction © Adam Thirlwell 2014

      Interview © Vanora Bennett 2004 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this e-book has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.

      Cover by Stanley Donwood

       Ebook Edition © MAY 2012 ISBN: 9780007369386 Version: 2014-08-16

      CONTENTS

       Cover

       Title Page

       Copyright

       Author’s Note

       Introduction by Adam Thirlwell

       Prima Belladonna

       Escapement

The Concentration City

Venus Smiles

Manhole 69

Track 12

The Waiting Grounds

Now: Zero

The Sound-Sweep

       Zone of Terror

       Chronopolis

       The Voices of Time

       The Last World of Mr Goddard

       Studio 5, The Stars

       Deep End

       The Overloaded Man

       Mr F. is Mr F.

       Billennium

       The Gentle Assassin

       The Insane Ones

       The Garden of Time

       The Thousand Dreams of Stellavista

       Thirteen to Centaurus

       Passport to Eternity

       The Cage of Sand

       The Watch-Towers

       The Singing Statues

       The Man on the 99th Floor

       The Subliminal Man

       The Reptile Enclosure

       A Question of Re-Entry

       The Time-Tombs

       Now Wakes the Sea

       The Venus Hunters

       End-Game

       Minus