What is the plot of The Immortals by Martin Amis?

Answer 1

The narrator is an immortal being who witnesses the forming of the continents and up through, and presumably beyond, the self-extermination of the human race. He recalls various periods in history, with select references to the Triassic Period, Ice Ages, the Renaissance, and Classical antiquity. He remarks that his favorite time in his immortal life was the Renaissance. He (or she? The narrator's sex is never explicitly mentioned, however there is a brief section about his experience with women, which may or may not indicate his masculinity) carries a somewhat condescending outlook on the human race. While he holds the Renaissance Period in the highest regard, he mentions that the people of the 19th and 20th centuries are the stupidest people he had ever encountered. The entire story is his own reflections and internal monologue. Describing these periods, he says, "after the Renaissance what do I get? Rationalism and the industrial revolution. Growth, progress, the whole petrochemical stampede." In short, there really is no 'plot' to this story per se; it is simply a witty perspective of the history of humanity, which culminates in its self-destruction in the year 2045 due to nuclear warfare. His knowledge that he will soon be the last being on earth is at once chilling and comical.