Kazuo Ishiguro incorporates elements from many different genres in his novel, Never Let Me Go. There are elements of romance between Kathy and Tommy. It is a Bildungsroman in the sense that it follows these children from their early education into adulthood. And, it is a science fiction novel. The fact that Ishiguro borrows from so many different genres can make it hard to determine where his book fits in. But based on the strong science fiction elements, particularly the scene in which Kathy and Tommy believe they see the woman who Ruth was cloned from, it is possible to determine that Never Let Me Go is science fiction above all else. 

As with all other genre elements that can be found in this novel, the science fiction elements are subtle. Unlike most sci-fi stories, we aren’t given a detailed explanation up front about how the laws of science work in this world. Instead, the reality of donors and their possibles (that is, people who exist to donate their vital organs and the people they were cloned from) is slowly revealed to the reader. The author first provides a detailed explanation when Miss Lucy decides to tell the children what their fates will be when she overhears a couple of students discussing the idea of becoming movie stars. The second time in the novel that the reader is given a good idea of this concept of donor/possible is when Tommy and Kathy believe they see Ruth’s possible. 

Following this scene, we learn that possibles are (possibly) the people from whom donors like Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth were cloned. This makes two major “scientific” revelations that occur over the course of the novel. While there are elements of romance, Bildungsroman, and other genres, the only genre element that is consistent throughout the book is science fiction. The Bildungsroman ends once the children grow up and enter adulthood and the romance subplot between Kathy and Tommy ends once Tommy has accepted his fate and calls off their relationship, dying from a donation shortly after. 

However, we have the introduction of the first science fiction element in part one of the book when Miss Lucy telling the kids the truth about their futures. In the second part, we have another science fiction element with Ruth’s possible. As science fiction is the one thread that consistently runs through the different parts of this book, it is possible to categorize Never Let Me Go as science fiction.