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Instead of time travel and half-life, it's dreams. The endings are exactly the same, where you are left unsure if what is supposed to be reality is the real deal or not.

Well, I wouldn't go that far as to call Inception basically Ubik; they do both explore different states of existence, but overall I find them very different. They both kick ass

I have to confess that I don't remember how Ubik ends, but I'm agree with you that both Inception and Ubik share some of the topics they talk about. Basically, the perception of the reality, if what we see is real or not. Of course, there are many differences between them, but a lot of common things. It wouldn't surprise me to figure out that Christopher Nolan is a huge fan of Ubik's author, Philip K. Dick.

I cannot believe that Christopher Nolan hasn't read a Philip K. Dick novel. It's about time Hollywood really acknowledges their debt to P.K. Dick.

michel gondry is adapting this book.

Inception didn't have any themes of unsureness about the world around the characters- they were always quite aware they were in dreams the whole time (I will admit the backstory to Cobb and his wife was quite Dickian, but not quite Ubik). Themes of "time travel", deterioration, and advertising aren't brought up at all in the movie.

Now, if you want to see a movie that is "basically this book", check out Vanilla Sky.

id say its neither.

I always thought this book was screaming to be made into a film. Not sure about Gondry though, he'd have to be restrained as it's the type of narrative that can easily spiral into nonsense; as the book treads a very tight rope, never actually becoming bewildering, just estranging.
But none the less, I do agree with the Guardian article above; concerning a more intelligent/adult version of a Dick film is necessary. Rather than some of the chuff that's been made from his books (although Bladerunner and A Scanner Darkly I did really enjoy).

I'm interested to see if his popularity kicks up more in the indie filmmaker community, especially with the new "Radio Free Albemuth" that's out. Really, PKD doesn't need that much special effects to make a faithful adaption, all you really need is a few dedicated fans and a moderate budget.

Yes it does not need a high budget to make some of PKDS's work to make the adaptation become enjoyable to wach. However, for Three Stigmata of Palmer Elderitch, I would love to see it on high budget movie adaptation.

The effect of chew-Z on people who consume it, the Stigmata that become omnipresence, etc.. would look mesmerizing on cinemas if it was adapted using high-end movie special effects.

And I believe that PKD'S genius ideas should be more know worldwide. It is sad that in most of his lifetime, although he won one prestigious award, he is less known in the rest of the world compared to some of literary fictions writers.

I think many of his books have more moral insights compare to many literary fictions novels

UBIK is a brilliant book that deals with something different (altered states of perception and vast mind powers, not dreams specifically) in a very original way. I doubt they would have the courage to make a faithful adaption of this book.

Though I have to say, A Scanner Darkly wasn't a bad adaption of that book.

I like Nolan, so I won't comment on Inception.

I don't really think you can compare Ubik to Inception. I think that Ubik was really exploring more of a religious aspect. Ubik or rather Ella seems to be like God and Jory has many similarities to the Devil. Ubik saves people, Jory kills them. Now how can you kill someone that is already dead? I think that is a matter of perception. Jory said if you listen closely you can hear his last victims. I think Jory eats their souls and thus they're no longer floating around in the afterlife; they're just gone. So, I don't see the similarities there.
More interesting to me is how it's death, within death, within death (which is similar to Inception.)However, to make a very obtuse statement saying that Inception is basically Ubik is understated. You're missing the overall themes and lessons within the novel. Besides, Inception isn't really all that complex, whereas Ubik encompass many layers.

I just finished "Ubik" and I laughed at this post. Inception, Matrix, and The Thirteenth floor try to be "Ubik" but honestly none of them go to the depth of questioning reality.

There was an episode of Doctor who who went to a similar place (Where the Doctor doesn't know which reality is the real reality). And that's somewhat closer to "Ubik", but with all of the examples the answer is simple, Inception, is a step down system, the only real question is have you stepped up far enough, people constantly call it "deep" and it's really quite shallow. I enjoy the movie, but it's nothing like "Ubik".

Honestly I want to say there was a film of some sort that is similar to "Ubik" but I can't think of what it is off the top of my head.

The big thing that "Ubik" does is, it never offers facts, or evidence. Everything you think you know at the end of the book is supposition, and the more you look into it, the more it falls apart. Which to me makes it a far more complex mind bending experience than pretty much any move I've seen.

Ricky wrote: "I cannot believe that Christopher Nolan hasn't read a Philip K. Dick novel. It's about time Hollywood really acknowledges their debt to P.K. Dick."

Amen to that, brother. If anything, Inception is likely a ripoff of Ubik -- and The Matrix is a ripoff of PKD's work in general.

Alexandra wrote: "I don't really think you can compare Ubik to Inception. I think that Ubik was really exploring more of a religious aspect. Ubik or rather Ella seems to be like God and Jory has many similarities to..."

Inception is to Ubik what Twilight is to Dracula.

Brian wrote: "michel gondry is adapting this book."

Brian, you just made my day. I love Michel Gondry & adore this book.

Ricky wrote: "I cannot believe that Christopher Nolan hasn't read a Philip K. Dick novel. It's about time Hollywood really acknowledges their debt to P.K. Dick."

It's about time they started making movies that actually use his material instead just his reputation, in particular, that outrage called Next, and to a lesser extent that silly bit of fluff called The Adjustment Bureau since the original story in this case is not great PKD, but rather a get it over the fence for a check against another round of horse meat for dinner magazine piece. These early works seem to be in public domain and thus not controlled by the PKD trust assuming it has some integrity and retains some control rather than just taking the money on adaptations. Hollywood gets the whole blame on these two.

Mike wrote: Inception is to Ubik what Twilight is to Dracula.
Haha, I wouldn't be that harsh, but that's a good point. I'll reuse this one.

Brian wrote: "michel gondry is adapting this book."
Yes, I heard this last year, I was really happy. Gondry will definitely do something great with that kind of material. David Lynch kind of screwed Dune though, but I'm hopeful.

I suppose Ubik (or P.K.Dick more generally) inspired tons of later fictions, in all mediums.
ie: Open Your Eyes and it 2 remakes, Matrix, Existence, Avalon...
I suppose Inception was just another one.

I found Inception a little boring so maybe I'm naturally hesitant to see any similarity to this novel but I don't think there's a real link. Many films have played on questioning what's real or not and I'm sure many authors have done the same long before P.K. Dick. Surely, it's all the wizard of oz, really?

Of course, P.K.Dick made a career of these kinds of ideas with many great books so let credit him for that and the Beatles for everything else :P

Adam wrote: "I found Inception a little boring so maybe I'm naturally hesitant to see any similarity to this novel but I don't think there's a real link. Many films have played on questioning what's real or not..."
As somebody that was actually around at the time, I can say that nobody else in the mid to late 60's was writing about the idea of 'nested realities' in the Science Fiction genre. At least not to the extent that Phil took it. PKD was a true original in that way. He took the idea and really ran with it. I think it had a lot to do with his experimentation with LSD and the effect it had on his fertile imagination. In my opinion, PKD is giant in the genre and a national treasure. :)