Poignant glimpse of lonely admin worker’s life
Office novel about a customer service assistant and her unlikely companion
05 September 2024 - 05:00
Work has changed. For many, it’s become a hostile, discomfiting place where turbulence and instability are the new norms. In her quirky satire Hard Copy, translated by Hester Velmans, Dutch author Fien Veldman finely captures this Hobbesian misery where none of our human needs are realisable.
Her debut is the latest in a long line of “office novels” that explore late capitalist themes of exploitation, identity, and the emotional detachment that comes with being treated as a commodity rather than a person. ..
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