I'm not sure how many times I've read the book over the years. So it must be time to start it again. The first two, Life-Line and The Roads Must Roll are from 1939 and 1940. The language and style are certainly from then. Think old black and white movie. Or remember that Star Trek episode where they went back in time to somewhere with gangsters and had to speak that lingo? This is it. I enjoyed both again and they speak to today as much as then.