At the turn of the next century, a corporate oligarchy rules America with an iron fist. Commercial jingles have replaced the Top 40, babies come from factories, and the race captivating the nation isn't between political candidates. It's the cutthroat competition to find the formula for No-Sog Stay-Crisp Cornflakes.

The battle pits cereal titan Todd Swindell, head of Flakes Alive Incorporated, against Chad Scandalman of the Great American Flake Company. When Scandalman hires a diminutive assassin named Twinkle to bump off his rival's top chemist, it sparks a war of the flakes that makes the bloody feud of York and Lancaster look tame by comparison.

But not everyone in the cornflake capital of Domino, Indiana, is happy with the status quo. Ziggie Wexler, an unemployed pipefitter and all-around average Joe, knows something is deeply wrong with his country.

All history prior to 2040 has been banned, but old-timers whisper about the days when people still voted for their leaders. After Ziggie posts fiery polemics against the state to the Clandestine Journal, he becomes a marked man. But in a world built on lies, there's one truth he's sure of: Somebody needs to fight back.