Absurdist fiction is a genre of
fictional narrative (traditionally,
literary fiction), most often in the form of a
novel,
play,
poem, or
film, that focuses on the experiences of characters in situations where they cannot find any inherent
purpose in life, most often represented by ultimately meaningless actions and events that call into question the certainty of existential concepts such as truth or value. Common elements in absurdist fiction include
satire,
dark humour, incongruity, the abasement of
reason, and controversy regarding the philosophical condition of being "nothing." Works of absurdist fiction often explore
agnostic or
nihilistic topics.