The Possibility of an Island

The Possibility of an Island is a 2005 novel by the French writer Michel Houellebecq. Its plot unfolds within a cloning cult that resembles the real-world Raëlians.

The story follows Daniel, a successful comedian who, despite his wealth, cannot seem to enjoy life. He grows bored with his hedonist lifestyle without being able to escape it, and while reflecting on the nature of sex and love, he expresses his discontent with contemporary society. The other two protagonists are his clones, who lead uneventful lives as hermits in a post-apocalyptic future, where climate change and nuclear war have brought the human species to the brink, or, on another reading, have returned humanity to hunter-gatherer tribes. The clones confront the life of the original Daniel and hold differing views of their predecessor.

The novel was adapted for the screen: La possibilité d'une île, directed by Houellebecq himself, premiered in France in 2008. An excerpt appears on Carla Bruni's album Comme si de rien n'était, and the novel inspired Iggy Pop's 2009 album Préliminaires.