...is the title of a novel I've just finished reading by James Howard Kunstler (I think with a surname like Kuntler, er sorry, Kuntyler) you probably need the Howard to take some of the emphasis off) and it is a really good story. Rush out and buy it now!
Basically it's set in the not too distant future when oil has run out and the world as we know it has come to an end. Literally, everything is now a manual pursuit and there are no more jobs like real estate agent, banker, public relations director or marketing executive - you know, all the important jobs we'd miss.
I guess it's what you call speculative fiction but frankly there's not a lot that's too speculative about it; the oil will run out in our lifetime, or at least will become so expensive it causes major economic collapse (and you thought sub-prime morgages were bad...).
I know a bit about the oil business, having worked in the auto industry for a good slab of my life, and I can tell you all the oil companies are busy buying back their stock. What does that mean? Well, in as few as 10 years time companies like Exxon will have liquidated themselves, or to put it another way, they'll entirely hold all the oil they have, rather than having to worry about shareholders. In fact, l happen to know, all the major oil companies are now spending more money buying stock back than they are exploring for new oil. Why's that? Because they know it's running out, there's not much left (30 years' worth by some estimates, but much of that won't be easily extracted) and they want to keep hold of as much of the black gold as they can and have one final money-making jaunt, though what use the folding stuff will be when the world gets made by hand, I just don't know.
Anyway, on that cheerful note, have a look for Kunstler's book, it's a great read. As, of course, is GONE, the next chapter of which is now up and ready for reading. Follow a link on an earlier post if you're interested.