The Future belongs to a genre that has proliferated in recent years, called “near-future” fiction. Often, though not always, housed within the genre of science fiction, near-future novels explore how current events and trends might play out within the next few years or decades. Unlike sweeping science-fiction sagas that look to how the world, or the universe, will change in the coming millennia, near-future novels focus on the potential outcomes, positive or negative, of contemporary political, technological, and/or sociological debates or concerns. One of the primary purposes of near-future fiction is to critique the issues that haunt current conversations—and to imagine how those debates will evolve in the coming years. Like Jennifer Egan’s Pulitzer Prize-winning A Visit from the Goon Squad (2011) or Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story (2010), The Future investigates how evolving forms of current technologies will change society and the planet. The novel emphasizes the ecological toll of technological advancement, in which the quest to replace obsolete tech with brand-new devices at an ever-more furious pace generates enormous waste. It also explores the impact of technological development on interpersonal relationships and political divisiveness.

The novel’s social critique influences the form. For example, five of the six parts of the novel begin with the reproduction of a (fictional) discussion on an online forum, entitled “Name The Day”; it is a space for users with survivalist tendencies to discuss events and preparations.