Earthworks

Earthworks is a 1965 dystopian novel by prolific British science fiction author Brian Aldiss set in a world of environmental catastrophe & extreme socioeconomic inequality. Outside crowded cities controlled by a police state, a class of powerfully wealthy Farmers exploit a rural prison labor population, hunting down subversive Travellers who've broken free of social controls. The novel is considered influential as both Travellers & the Earthwork idea have become part of British public life.
Diseased, overpopulated, starving, robots & prison-gangs tending a barren, poisoned countryside--this is the world Knowle Noland, ex-convict, ex-traveller & captain of the tramp freighter Trieste Star knows & accepts because there's nothing better to hope for. To the beautiful girl named Justine it's a degrading & inhuman condition which can be overcome by global war--a war she wants him to start. He's always believed war was a futile answer to problems, but under Justine's persuasive logic he begins hoping that a shot he can fire will lead to the ultimate death of millions & be the start of a better world for the survivors.