The Immortalists

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Brought to you by Penguin.

What does it mean for us all when death is treated as a glitch and Silicon Valley invests in the “science” of eternal life?

From the epic of Gilgamesh to the alchemy of the philosopher’s stone, humanity’s eternal quest for immortality – and its rejuvenation tricks, therapies and tinctures – has always been our most mortal endeavour.

But now the giants of invention and investment are building a fountain of youth of their own creation: one they not only engineer, but also own and control. Death is simply their next problem to solve, an expression of a hubris that regards humans as appliances to be fixed and machines to be upgraded. By harnessing technology to ‘cure’ ageing, and funding cutting-edge – and often controversial – research, today’s immortalists are locked in an arms race to pocket the profits of longevity.

What was once a wild west of experimentation has wormed its way into Washington’s corridors of power. Award-winning broadcaster and academic Aleks Krotoski journeys from cult fringes to the heartlands of government to meet the moguls, effective altruists, geroscientists and entrepreneurs who are disrupting death. Along the way she encounters radical life extensionists transfusing their teenage son’s blood, transhumanists who want to upload consciousness to the cloud, biohackers flogging AI-powered wellness apps and billionaire kingmakers building brand-new nations.

This razor-sharp investigation asks: do we really want a handful of Silicon Valley powerbrokers to be the architects of our forever?

'A fascinating, deeply reported adventure' OLIVER BURKEMAN
'An essential parable for our digital times' KEVIN FONG
‘A rare combination of academic, geek, reporter and fluent essayist’ Observer

© Aleks Krotoski 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Critics Review

Eye-opening, entertaining and disturbing … [A] highly readable and meticulously researched book … Krotoski's goal is to open people’s eyes to what is going on so they can make up their own minds. She does it brilliantly
New Scientist
A fascinating, deeply reported adventure among the increasingly influential figures who believe they can defeat death – and a warning not to let dreams of tech-enabled immortality stop us building a more vibrant human world here and now
Oliver Burkeman
An elegant, gripping expedition into the technological apotheosis of an ancient dream. Can technology gift us immortality? In Krotoski's hands, this question is neither a promise nor a warning, but a meditation on what truly matters
Tom Chatfield
Brilliant, painstakingly researched and altogether a wonderful read, Aleks Krotoski serves up an essential parable for our digital times
Kevin Fong
Aleks Krotoski, an award-winning broadcaster, academic, and technology reporter, has cast her eye over living for ever … Krotoski’s riveting book ends with a poignant account of the deaths of her father and stepmother. While the immortalists resist death, it will come to us all. The only thing we can try to control is how we face it
Daily Mail
Fascinating … The new titans of tech wish to be as immortal as the Titans of legend. The award-wining journalist Aleks Krotoski wryly documents their antics in her new book The Immortalists … An entertaining and insightful account of those who believe the end of ageing is within our grasp
Financial Times
Life extensionists like Bryan Johnson want to live forever. But at what cost? … Aleks Krotoski, a psychologist and veteran chronicler of the tech industry, is well positioned to investigate and explain the phenomenon … as well as its social consequences
Guardian
Aleks Krotoski’s fascinating new book penetrates deep into the heart of the Silicon Valley … it rises above the wellness rituals themselves and looks squarely at the metaphysics that animates them: the conviction that the human is decomposable into variables that computation and chemistry can optimise. The author's reporting around that conviction – its origins in grief and fear, its transmutation into a public liturgy of confidence – is utterly compelling
New Statesman

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