Published at the end of the 1970s, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is representative of many of the preoccupations of the time. After surviving the depredations of the Second World War and the subsequent need to rebuild bombed-out buildings and ration household necessities, England experienced a renaissance of art and culture, characterized by the so-called “Swinging 60s” in London. There was also an awakening public political consciousness during this time, activated by the Cold War between the West, represented by the democracies of Western Europe and America, primarily, and the East, represented by communist-led Russia and its many satellite countries in Eastern Europe. The war in Vietnam was a particularly galvanizing event for anti-war protestors in America and Europe. However, the optimism and activism that characterized the 1960s gave way to a growing cynicism throughout the 1970s, sparked by economic uncertainty and the tense political climate. At the same time, there was also rapidly-developing technology, particularly in mass communications.

Adams’s novel satirizes consumer capitalism and government bureaucracy. In the introductory section of the book, the narrator notes that people’s happiness appears to be tied to “the movements of small green pieces of paper” (5)—money—which is his first direct critique of capitalism.