It was discovered some years ago that there exist non-integer real numbers $q>1$ for which only one sequence $(c_i)$ of integers $c_i in [0,q)$ satisfies the equality $sum_{i=1}^infty c_iq^{-i}=1$. The set of such univoque numbers has a rich topological structure, and its study revealed a number of unexpected connections with measure theory, fractals, ergodic theory and Diophantine approximation. In this paper we consider for each fixed $q>1$ the set $mathcal{U}_q$ of real numbers $x$ having a unique representation of the form $sum_{i=1}^infty c_iq^{-i}=x$ with integers $c_i$ belonging to $[0,q)$. We carry out a detailed topological study of these sets. For instance, we characterize their closures, and we determine those bases $q$ for which $mathcal{U}_q$ is closed or even a Cantor set. We also study the set $mathcal{U}_q$ consisting of all sequences $(c_i)$ of integers $c_i in [0,q)$ such that $sum_{i=1}^{infty} c_i q^{-i} in mathcal{U}_q$. We determine the numbers $r >1$ for which the map $q mapsto mathcal{U}_q$ (defined on $(1, infty)$) is constant in a neighborhood of $r$ and the numbers $q >1$ for which $mathcal{U}_q$ is a subshift or a subshift of finite type.
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