Freezing Point, by Anders Bodelsen
Freezing Point, by Anders Bodelsen was first published in 1969 in Danish with the title Frysepunktet and then in English in 1971. I think it was inspired by the case of Professor James Bedford who, died in 1967 but whose body was medically frozen in the hope he could be revived at some future date. Freezing point is a essentially a work of dystopian science fiction, a genre which doesn’t always last very well but this one was reissued in 2025 because the theme of using cryogenics to avoid death has stayed with us. The book explores some of the deep questions about ageing, death and what life might be like if it went on forever.
The story is centred on a character named Bruno who is a magazine editor. It begins in 1973 when Bruno discovers that he has an incurable cancer. Just after receiving the news he meets a young ballerina, Jenny, and they have an affair. He is offered the chance to be one of the first to be frozen down, the idea being that he would be thawed out again when a cure for his illness is found. He agrees to the procedure and is put to sleep, waking in 1995. He has not physically aged, but the society he wakes up in has changed dramatically. Medical cryogenics is now ubiquitous, and there is a lucrative market in human organs. Doctors effectively rule society, which has become divided between those who opt for “all-life”, which means something approaching immortality, and those who choose “now-life”, where they can live an affluent life as mortals by mortgaging their vital organs. The stability of this society is under constant threat from imbalance of supply and demand. Its regime has become repressive, engaging in mass surveillance and control of access to books and magazines.
In 1995 Bruno finds out that Jenny has been frozen down after suffering a spinal injury that meant she could no longer dance. He also finds out that she had a son, also called Bruno, from their encounter. After struggling to readjust he pleads to be frozen down again so that he can be reunited with Jenny when a cure for her spine is available.
The last part of the book is set in 2022. It is clear that the Brave New World is now falling apart. Repeated freezings and thawings are having drastic side effects on those affected. Jenny’s new spine isn’t working as it was supposed to and even the doctors are showing signs of mental illness, constantly repeating themselves, amid frequent power cuts. In the midst of all this Bruno just wants to die. But will that be allowed?
It’s a bit corny to describe this book as a “chiller” but that’s exactly what it is. The story is told in a dry, impassive voice which makes it all the more bleak, though with enough dark humour for it to qualify as a black comedy.
P.S. Anders Bodelsen passed away in 2021.
In the Dark 
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