Ubik (P. K. Dick, 1969)

The novel takes place in the North American Confederation in 1992. Joe Chip, a debt-ridden technician for Glen Runciter's "prudence organization," which employs people with the ability to block certain psychic powers (for instance, an anti-telepath can prevent a telepath from reading a client's mind). 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.

Business magnate Stanton Mick hires Runciter’s company to secure his Lunar facilities from telepaths. Runciter, Chip and others go then to the moon to discover that the assignment is a trap, presumably set by Runciter’s business rival, Ray Hollis, who leads a group of psychics. A bomb explodes killing apprentely Runciter. Chip and his colleagues rush back to Earth to place him in half-life.

Afterwards, the group begins to experience strange shifts in reality. Consumables, such as milk and cigarettes, begin to expire prematurely. Runciter's face appears on coins and they receive strange messages from him, in writing and on television. Group members are found dead, in a gruesome state of decomposition.

Messages from Runciter indicate that Ubik may be their only hope...