2,240 words (10-12 minutes)
Genre(s): Science Fiction, Dystopian, Satire
First published in Galaxy Science Fiction in July 1953

⸻

A Bad Day for Sales is a chillingly ironic tale of consumerism, technology, and apocalypse.

Robie, a state-of-the-art sales robot, is programmed to roam the streets of a futuristic Manhattan, cheerfully peddling candy, soda, and cosmetics with flawless automated charm. The city around him is a dazzling spectacle of advertising, mechanized convenience, and eager consumers—until the sky blooms with a nuclear explosion.

With its biting satire on capitalism, automation, and human detachment, A Bad Day for Sales remains one of Leiber’s most haunting short stories. In the face of ultimate catastrophe, what does a machine care?