Company men would run for Parliament, Company newspapers would trumpet their excellence to the sky, Company TV stations would broadcast their election promises this is how democracy worked: corporate and public interests working together at last, for the greater good.

Claire North’s latest novel is set in a dystopian, near-future version of the UK where human rights have been abolished and the government is run by a ruthless corporation known as only as ‘The Company’. Under this new totalitarian regime, all civil services have been corporatised.

As an employee in the Criminal Audit Office, Theo Miller is responsible for setting a monetary price for every crime committed. All those who can’t pay are sent to labour camps. 84K is the fine for murder. In the face of a seemingly omnipotent government and a mysterious past he’s trying to conceal, Miller works hard at being nondescript and keeping his head down. His quiet life is quickly turned upside down when an old girlfriend reappears only to be brutally murdered. Her death leads Miller on a dangerous journey to find the daughter he never knew he had, and to bring down The Company.

References to George Orwell’s classic 1984 abound, from the title of North’s novel to her mild-mannered civil servant protagonist. That being said, North fashions a completely original dystopian nightmare fit for the twenty-first century. The rich get richer and the poor pay the price. Clever and challenging, her writing often reads as poetry instead of prose, giving her sci-fi-cum-mystery novel depth and lyricism. 84K is a must read for fans of 1984, Brave New World and The Handmaid’s Tale.

Tristen Kiri Brudy works as a bookseller at Readings Carlton.