Maybe you're already aware of this but being in a gilded age would not be a good thing. The gilded age described a society where serious problems were masked by a thin veneer of gold.
I've never read the book, but am aware it is a satire. Given your description, I think my word choice turned out to be apropos. Though perhaps "thin veneer of gold" should be modernized to "tacky stucco facade" or "parallax hero background."