We prove a classification theorem for purely infinite simple C * -algebras that is strong enough to show that the tensor products of two different irrational rotation algebras with the same even Cuntz algebra are isomorphic. In more detail, let C be the class of simple C * -algebras A which are direct limits A ∼ = limwhere m is even, O m is the Cuntz algebra, and X is either a point, a compact interval, or the circle S 1 , and each map A k → A is approximately absorbing. ("Approximately absorbing" is defined in Section 1.) We show that two unital C * -algebras A and B in C are isomorphic if and only ifThis class is large enough to exhaust all possible K-groups: if G 0 and G 1 are countable odd torsion (abelian) groups and g ∈ G 0 , then there is a). The class C contains the tensor products of irrational rotation algebras with even Cuntz algebras. It is also closed under the formation of hereditary subalgebras, countable direct limits (provided that the direct limit is simple), and tensor products with simple AF algebras.