This thesis argues that contemporary authors have used California as a device to define and propose a mode of human consciousness that has arisen from the Anthropocene, an unofficial epoch named after the transformative impact of humanity on Earth systems. The Anthropocene consciousness (as I call it) describes a form of awareness and perception, about ourselves and the world around us, that results from being a member of a species that has modified the planet and entered geologic history. I do not claim that the Anthropocene consciousness is a universal sensation, rather that California Anthropocene fiction – my categorising term for the novels discussed within – develops and advances this state of being in reaction to the emergence of the suggested epoch. California is positioned as a microcosm of the Anthropocene in this fiction, epitomising its drivers and effects. As characters navigate the environmental turbulence of the state, they become conscious of themselves in the context of the vast spatial and temporal scale of the Anthropocene. This sense of awareness is communicated to the novels’ readers through the psychological interiority of their characters, and, more broadly, the empathetic connection enabled by fiction. The authors therefore generate the Anthropocene consciousness in their readers as well as characters. My understanding of this key concept consists of two main facets, planetary consciousness and geologic consciousness, which relate respectively to the spatial and temporal effects of the Anthropocene. Ultimately I contend that California Anthropocene fiction constructs a model of human consciousness – an unnatural state – that accompanies an epoch defined by anthropogenic activity.