The collection ABSOLUTE VOID, of which the work ON THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF LIFE is also a part, does not consist of fiction works. The short texts that make it up are reviews of literary, scientific, and popular-science books by various authors. But among the authors of the books that Lem so diligently reviews, there isn’t a single real person. In reality, none of these books were written. Lem reviews nonexistent books by nonexistent authors.