The Employees

A Workplace Novel of the 22nd Century

De: Olga Ravn

Narrado por: Hannah Curtis

Shortlisted for the International Booker prize, The Employees reshuffles a sci-fi voyage into a riotously original existential nightmare.

Funny and doom-drenched, The Employees chronicles the fate of the Six-Thousand Ship. The human and humanoid crew members complain about their daily tasks in a series of staff reports and memos. When the ship takes on a number of strange objects from the planet New Discovery, the crew becomes strangely and deeply attached to them, even as tensions boil toward mutiny, especially among the humanoids.

Olga Ravn’s prose is chilling, crackling, exhilarating, and foreboding. The Employees probes into what makes us human, while delivering a hilariously stinging critique of life governed by the logic of productivity.

©2018, 2021 Olga Ravn & Martin Aitken Gyldendal (P)2022 New Directions Publishing Corp.

Didn’t find the humor BUT …

It was actually haunting (imho) the text stayed with me, it made me uncomfortable (in an existential sort of way.)

Not the best thing I ever listened to - BUT - it is worth the time and the discomfort.

Unusual, Dark Science Fiction

Based on the title, I was surprised that this story takes place aboard a spaceship in deep space. The “employees” are robots, humanoids, and humans. It’s very unusual in the way it’s structured and has a dark, haunting vibe to it as it unfolds. The mystery of what was going on kept me intrigued. I recommend it for anyone who likes dark, unusual, sci-fi.

The format was interesting as an audiobook

I should have read the book directly to get a feel for the chapters, some of which were just a few words particularly toward the end. I think I shorted myself on the experience by listening to the audiobook

An existential look at humanity in the tradition of Rod Serling

The story is told through a series of short, daily interviews with the protagonist (think log entries) who works aboard a commercial vessel transporting unnamed cargo. Those interviewing her are unnamed, but might be executives or scientists working in robotics. The crew is a mix of human and android. The questions asked of the protagonist are not mentioned, only her responses and reflections. It takes close listening to sleuth out what is happening on the ship given the style of narrative, but any fan of Serling’s show and his existentialist writing will enjoy this. The characters in the story may or may not be what they appear to be….or maybe they are?

Absurd Corporate Sci-Fi Existential Epic

LOVED this read, what an incendiary satire of professional work in the modern world. Brilliantly conceived form, a book I could not put down.

Some insight into work

Elliptical narrative. Why were the "objects" being collected? What caused the conflict on the ship?

Beautiful writing and pointed meaning

Wonderful commentary on work, life, companionship and what makes us alive told through subtle and very well done prose.

Slow burn

I found it to be a refreshingly complex sci-fi story. It was complex at first to visualize the unconventional characters due to the narrative style but that really is the entire point.

Fantastic

The Employees is a type of social science fiction that we will always need more of in our reading. Echoes of Le Guin and Philip K Dick. The detached storytelling and absence of names, or even of identities, mean this is not a character study, but you can’t help but study yourself and your own relationship to work and life. Masterfully written and highly recommended

No clue what was this about

I came out of the book with only a very vague se sense of what was going on. Must be one of the most hermetic novels I came across, and not in a good way.