Tik-Tok/F...J

F

("From childhood, Krishna...")

the caustic Ruritanian cartoonist

Ruritania, originally from The Prisoner of Zenda, is a generic fictional country that Sladek also used in Roderick.

not even Hornby can afford real servants

Although the extravagant lifestyles of many of the human characters in Tik-Tok (the Studebakers, an only slightly upper-middle-class suburban couple, live in pampered luxury; the Culpeppers have money to burn far beyond the wildest dreams of the plantation owners they're imitating) could be seen as just typical satirical exaggeration, there's also a practical angle: in this world, robots are much cheaper than human employees—and probably even cheaper than human slaves, since they can be mass-produced.

G

("Great rejoicing in violence...")

H

("Hard by the lake shore...")

I

("In the awful art gallery...")

J

("Just take a good look...")