The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

Arthur Dent thought his day was going badly when someone tried to demolish his house.

Then, someone demolished his planet.

Rescued by his friend Ford Prefect - who is not a human from Guildford, but an alien from somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse - Arthur is flung into an adventure among the stars. He finds himself aboard the Heart of Gold, a spaceship equipped with the revolutionary Infinite Improbability Drive, piloted by the eccentric Zaphod Beeblebrox. Along the way, Arthur navigates existential dangers and far-fetched adventures. He encounters Marvin the Paranoid Android, the intelligent and perpetually depressed robot, and Trillian, the only other human survivor of Earth's destruction.

Arthur's journey is both uproarious and philosophical as he grapples with interstellar bureaucracy, absurdist planetary customs, and flying dolphins. All of this is in the name of research for the greatest book in the galaxy, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The Guide, a quirky electronic book, offers indispensable advice, including the essential directive: "Don't Panic."

Set against the backdrop of an unfathomably vast universe teeming with bizarre creatures and incomprehensible phenomena, Arthur's survival and humour are tested at every turn. The novel's wit and satire provide a profound yet light-hearted commentary on life, existence, and the human condition.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is part of a multi-media phenomenon beloved the world over. Douglas Adams' "trilogy in five parts" originated as a radio show on the BBC, which eventually developed into a book series. Since its inception, the story has expanded into a television series, a major motion picture, additional sequels, radio adaptations, a famously impossible text adventure game, and numerous stage productions. It was a Sunday Times bestseller and ranked fourth in a 2003 BBC poll to find the Nation's Best-Loved Book.

Douglas Adams's inspired melding of hippy-trail guidebook and sci-fi comedy turned its novelisations into a publishing phenomenon - Guardian

In a sense that only time can test, it could be said that The Hitchhiker's Guide has become folklore - The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

Douglas was a genius, and that's not actually a word I toss around very lightly or use very much - Neil Gaiman