This short and witty story by the wonderfully-named Jerome K. Jerome, first published in 1891, confirms two things: people have always complained about the state of society and they’ve always been very sure as to exactly how to fix their society (if only they were in charge). So Jerome takes his protagonist into the future to show him exactly what a strictly equal society would look like. (It’s not good.)

Having an interest in the roots of dystopian fiction, I’d add that it’s not difficult to see how Jerome’s story may have influenced Yevgeny Zamyatin, the author of the novel, We – We being the direct inspiration for George Orwell’s 1984. So if We is considered the grandfather of all dystopian fiction, what does that make the even older, ‘The New Utopia’? I’d like to think that Jerome would approve of his story being a ‘great grandfather’ to this thought-provoking genre.

First published in Diary of a Pilgrimage and Six Essays, J. W. Arrowsmith, 1891. Now out of copyright and freely available online)