‘1984’ sales go up

This undated file photo shows writer George Orwell, author of "1984." Sales for such dystopian classics as George Orwell's “1984” and Aldous Huxley's “Brave New World” have been strong since news broke last week that the government had a vast surveillance programme of phone and Internet records.

U.S. book-buyers are reading up on being watched.

Sales for dystopian classics such as George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World have been strong since news broke last week that the U.S. government had vast surveillance programmes targeting phones and Internet records.

Several editions of Orwell’s 1984 , about an all-seeing government, were among top Amazon.com’s top 200 sellers as of Wednesday morning. Huxley’s story of a mindless future ranked No. 210 and was out of stock.

A perennial favourite of futuristic horror, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 , was ranked No. 75.