Johnny Mnemonic
by William Gibsonliterary work· published 1981
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"Johnny Mnemonic" is a Cyberpunk short story by American-Canadian writer William Gibson. It first appeared in Omni magazine in May 1981, and was subsequently included in Burning Chrome, a 1986 collection of Gibson's short fiction. It takes place in the world of Gibson's cyberpunk novels, predating them by some years, and introduces the character Molly Millions, who plays a prominent role in the Sprawl trilogy of novels. It was nominated for a Nebula Award in 1982. The short story served as the basis for the 1995 film Johnny Mnemonic, whose plot uses the same basic premise but otherwise differs considerably. A novelization of Gibson's screenplay written by Terry Bisson was published in 1995. In 1996, a film tie-in edition of Gibson's original short story was published as a standalone book.
Adaptations (1)
Johnny Mnemonic was adapted into a 1995 film.
Johnny Mnemonic1995 · film · 96 min · dir. Robert Longo · IMDb ↗In a dystopian 2021, Johnny is a data trafficker who has an implant that allows him to securely store data too sensitive for regular computer networks. On one delivery run, he accepts a package that not only exceeds the implant's safety limits—and will kill him if the data is not removed in time—but also contains information far more important and valuable than he had ever imagined. On a race against time, he must avoid the assassins sent to kill him and remove the data before it, too, ends his life.
