Adjustment Team: Short Story

By Philip K. Dick

After getting held up on his way to work, Ed Fletcher worries about the repercussions he will face when he reaches his office. Little does he know that his late arrival will give him a glimpse behind the very fabric of human existence and put him at odds with powers he cannot comprehend.

Philip K. Dick was an American science-fiction novelist, short-story writer and essayist. His first short story, “Beyond Lies the Wub,” was published shortly after his high school graduation. “Adjustment Team” was adapted into the 2011 film The Adjustment Bureau, starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. Many of Philip K. Dick’s other stories have been similarly adapted, including “The Minority Report,” “Paycheck,” “Second Variety” (adapted into the film Screamers) and “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” (adapted into the film Total Recall).

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• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Dec 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781443442770

Philip K. Dick

Over a writing career that spanned three decades, PHILIP K. DICK (1928–1982) published 36 science fiction novels and 121 short stories in which he explored the essence of what makes man human and the dangers of centralized power. Toward the end of his life, his work turned to deeply personal, metaphysical questions concerning the nature of God. Eleven novels and short stories have been adapted to film, notably Blade Runner (based on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), Total Recall, Minority Report, and A Scanner Darkly, as well as television's The Man in the High Castle. The recipient of critical acclaim and numerous awards throughout his career, including the Hugo and John W. Campbell awards, Dick was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2005, and between 2007 and 2009, the Library of America published a selection of his novels in three volumes. His work has been translated into more than twenty-five languages.

Book preview

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ADJUSTMENT TEAM

Philip K. Dick

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CONTENTS

Adjustment Team

About the Author

About the Series

Copyright

About the Publisher

Adjustment Team

It was bright morning. The sun shone down on the damp lawns and sidewalks, reflecting off the sparkling parked cars. The clerk came walking hurriedly, leafing through his instructions, flipping pages and frowning. He stopped in front of the small green stucco house for a moment, and then turned up the walk, entering the backyard.

The dog was asleep inside his shed, his back turned to the world. Only his thick tail showed.

For heaven’s sake, the clerk exclaimed, hands on his hips. He tapped his mechanical pencil noisily against his clipboard. Wake up, you in there.

The dog stirred. He came slowly out of his shed, head first, blinking and yawning in the morning sunlight. Oh, it’s you. Already? He yawned again.

Big doings. The clerk ran his expert finger down the traffic-control sheet. They’re adjusting Sector T137 this morning. Starting at exactly nine o’clock. He glanced at his pocket watch. Three hour alteration. Will finish by noon.

T137? That’s not far from here.

The clerk’s thin lips twisted with contempt. Indeed. You’re showing astonishing perspicacity, my black-haired friend. Maybe you can divine why I’m here.

We overlap with T137.

Exactly. Elements from this sector are involved. We must make sure they’re properly placed when the adjustment begins. The clerk glanced toward the small green stucco house. Your particular task concerns the man in there. He is employed by a business establishment lying within Sector T137. It’s essential that he be there before nine o’clock.

The dog studied the house. The shades had been let up. The kitchen light was on. Beyond the lace curtains dim shapes could be seen, stirring around the table. A man and woman. They were drinking coffee.

There they are, the dog murmured. The man, you say? He’s not going to be harmed, is he?

Of course not. But he must be at his office early. Usually he doesn’t leave until after nine. Today he must leave at eight-thirty. He must be within Sector T137 before the process begins, or he won’t be altered to coincide with the new adjustment.

The dog sighed. That means I have to summon.

Correct. The clerk checked his instruction sheet. You’re to summon at precisely eight-fifteen. You’ve got that? Eight-fifteen. No later.

"What will an eight-fifteen summons

Reviews for Adjustment Team

[benjamin.duffy · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I'd been meaning to start reading Philip K. Dick for a long time now, at least for the twenty-plus years since I realized that Blade Runner and Total Recall were based on books by the same guy. Two decades and probably three or four more Dick film adaptations later, including the excellent A Scanner Darkly, the decent Minority Report, and the mediocre The Adjustment Bureau, and I'm finally getting started.

This story, the basis for that last film, was rather disappointing. It just felt skeletal and underdeveloped, almost like a draft version where the author was spitballing ideas ("Hey, wouldn't it be cool/crazy if..."). And, don't get me wrong, it is a cool/crazy idea, but once he came up with the premise, the story itself couldn't have taken him much longer to write than it took me to read it. Combine the overly sparse narrative with the stilted dialogue and some very dated, 50s-feeling touches, and it came off more like a script for an episode of The Twilight Zone than a fully-realized work of speculative fiction.

Having said that, it was a fun half-hour read, and I am certainly not deterred from trying out more of Philip K. Dick's work.

[bill5bradford · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very interesting. After seeing the movie, I expected something philosophical along the lines of free will vs. predestination. It is more of a psychological story, and although it does not present an orthodox picture of God (at least from a Christian standpoint) it does present a very traditional picture of sovereignty. I especially like the dog.