To Live Forever by Jack Vance

Jack Vance's To Live Forever (1956) takes place in a world where life extension technology offers immortality, but in order to forestall problems of overpopulation, it's only made available as a reward to those who have made significant contributions to society. Everyone is guaranteed an average natural lifespan of 82 years; any more involves opting in to a system of meritocractic judgement, with those showing promise being rewarded a step up to the next, increasingly exclusive tier, and twenty more years to work towards immortality. Fall behind and the Assassins are dispatched to retire you (remember, this is voluntary and you've already lived the natural average lifespan and then some).
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