Brave New World is definitely a dytopian novel. This genre often appears within the larger science fiction genre, and features an imaginary (usually future) society which demonstrates the catastrophic outcome of some present-day trend. In this case, BNW features a society which has been completely given over to technology and pleasure. Aldous Huxley was clearly commenting on the modern trend to move away from nature towards a more artificial life dominated by sensual pleasure. He seems to have believed that our giving ourselves over to pleasure robs us of a certain spirituality, without which our lives will lose meaning and we will become the mere tools of our rulers.