From the back cover...
"There are seven billion-plus humans crowding the surface of 21st century Earth. It is an age of intelligent computers, mass-market psychedelic drugs, politics conducted by assassination, scientists who burn incense to appease volcanoes ... all the hysteria of a dangerously overcrowded world, portrayed in a dazzlingly inventive style. "

I enjoyed this book, mostly. However it is a beast at 650 pages and did drag at some points. Sticking with it was rewarding however as Brunner invokes a scarily believable picture of a dark future...