Books like Time Is the Simplest Thing by Clifford D. Simak

By the twenty‑second century, humanity abandoned space travel to avoid danger, expense and inconvenience. The powerful Fishhook company holds the sole license to journey beyond the solar system, using telepathic human pilots—called "parries"—whose minds can expand across the universe. On a routine assignment, loyal employee Shepherd Blaine is inadvertently merged with the consciousness of an alien life‑form. Transformed into something beyond ordinary humanity, Blaine becomes a pariah. Forced to flee the corporate compound, he discovers the world outside is no sanctuary: people are taught to hate and fear the telepathic powers he now bears, leaving him without a safe refuge on Earth or elsewhere. The story examines the perils of corporate control, the fear of the unknown, and the loneliness that follows a singular, extraordinary change.

First publish date: 1961