Incompetence is a dystopian comedy novel by Red Dwarf co-creator Rob Grant,[1] first published in 2003 with the tag line "Bad is the new Good."

It is a murder mystery and political thriller set in a near-future federal Europe where no-one can be "prejudiced from employment for reason of age, race, creed or incompitence [sic]".

A number of new mental disorders have apparently been classified in the book's universe, such as Sexually Inappropriate Response and Non-Specific Stupidity.

Examples of incompetence in the world around the agent are: The plot appears to be based on the film The Third Man.

The film is mentioned in the drunken conversation between Salt and Klingferm near the start of the book.