Alas, Babylon, by Pat Frank is science fiction (A literary or cinematic genre in which fantasy, typically based on speculative scientific discoveries or developments, environmental changes, space travel, or life on other planets, forms part of the plot or background); also it is a modernist story because it contains traits such as a "break" with the past, shows a breaking away from established rules, traditions and conventions, use of the grotesque, the intentionally puzzling events, and more.

It is a story about a nuclear holocaust in which millions of Americans die and among the survivors is a small town called Fort Repose. The main character is called Mark and before the war started his brother warned him of everything, giving him less than a day to prepare himself and prepare people close to him for what was next, the unimaginable. "Mark smiled, "I won't call you up and...