Hu Anyan – författare

A witty and humane account of one man, multiple jobs and what it means to liveA Book of the Year in the Guardian, Sunday Times, Economist and the Financial TimesShortlisted for the Baifang Schell Book Prize: Award for Outstanding Non-FictionHu AnYan has held nineteen different jobs since he graduated. He’s been a convenience store clerk, a bicycle salesman, a security guard and a delivery driver (among many other things). Every time the work gets punishing or the bosses too bossy, he moves on, from city to city, carrying with him nothing but his copies of Chekhov and Carver. This is his story.A runaway bestseller in China, I Deliver Parcels in Beijing is about what it’s like to try and make a living – and stay sane – in the gig economy. From the pecking order on a parcel-sorting factory floor to the perfect alcohol dose to get some daylight shut-eye before a punishing night shift, from the Kafkaesque bureaucracy of the hiring departments to the ideal layout of a delivery route, Hu illuminates the hidden lives behind the roles that keep our world going. But he also shows how, through the liberating power of literature, he finds solace, and even freedom in his existence.Quietly radical, brimming with humanity and humour, this book asks: what does work really mean? What should it mean? And do any of us really know how to live?

A witty and humane account of one man, multiple jobs and what it means to liveA Book of the Year in the Guardian, Sunday Times, Economist and the Financial TimesShortlisted for the Baifang Schell Book Prize: Award for Outstanding Non-FictionHu AnYan has held nineteen different jobs since he graduated. He’s been a convenience store clerk, a bicycle salesman, a security guard and a delivery driver (among many other things). Every time the work gets punishing or the bosses too bossy, he moves on, from city to city, carrying with him nothing but his copies of Chekhov and Carver. This is his story.A runaway bestseller in China, I Deliver Parcels in Beijing is about what it’s like to try and make a living – and stay sane – in the gig economy. From the pecking order on a parcel-sorting factory floor to the perfect alcohol dose to get some daylight shut-eye before a punishing night shift, from the Kafkaesque bureaucracy of the hiring departments to the ideal layout of a delivery route, Hu illuminates the hidden lives behind the roles that keep our world going. But he also shows how, through the liberating power of literature, he finds solace, and even freedom in his existence.Quietly radical, brimming with humanity and humour, this book asks: what does work really mean? What should it mean? And do any of us really know how to live?

A witty and humane account of one man, multiple jobs and what it means to liveA Book of the Year in the Guardian, Sunday Times, Economist and the Financial TimesShortlisted for the Baifang Schell Book Prize: Award for Outstanding Non-FictionHu AnYan has held nineteen different jobs since he graduated. He’s been a convenience store clerk, a bicycle salesman, a security guard and a delivery driver (among many other things). Every time the work gets punishing or the bosses too bossy, he moves on, from city to city, carrying with him nothing but his copies of Chekhov and Carver. This is his story.A runaway bestseller in China, I Deliver Parcels in Beijing is about what it’s like to try and make a living – and stay sane – in the gig economy. From the pecking order on a parcel-sorting factory floor to the perfect alcohol dose to get some daylight shut-eye before a punishing night shift, from the Kafkaesque bureaucracy of the hiring departments to the ideal layout of a delivery route, Hu illuminates the hidden lives behind the roles that keep our world going. But he also shows how, through the liberating power of literature, he finds solace, and even freedom in his existence.Quietly radical, brimming with humanity and humour, this book asks: what does work really mean? What should it mean? And do any of us really know how to live?

Brought to you by Penguin. A witty and humane account of one man, multiple jobs and what it means to liveHu AnYan has held nineteen different jobs since he graduated. He's been a convenience store clerk, a bicycle salesman, a security guard and a delivery driver (among many other things). Every time the work gets punishing or the bosses too bossy, he moves on, from city to city, carrying with him nothing but his copies of Chekhov and Carver. This is his story.A runaway bestseller in China, I Deliver Parcels in Beijing is about what it's like to try and make a living - and stay sane - in the gig economy. From the pecking order on a parcel-sorting factory floor to the perfect alcohol dose to get some daylight shut-eye before a punishing night shift, from the Kafkaesque bureaucracy of the hiring departments to the ideal layout of a delivery route, Hu illuminates the hidden lives behind the roles that keep our world going. But he also shows how, through the liberating power of literature, he finds solace, and even freedom in his existence.Quietly radical, brimming with humanity and humour, this book asks: what does work really mean? What should it mean? And do any of us really know how to live?(c) Hu AnYan 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Hu Anyanilla on ollut valmistumisensa jälkeen 19 työpaikkaa. Hän on kiertänyt kaupungista toiseen ja elättänyt itsensä muun muassa pikalähettinä, vartijana, myyjänä ja leipurina – ja etsinyt uuden hanttihomman, kun työ on käynyt liian kurjaksi ja pomo liian painostavaksi.Salaviisaissa ja hiljaisen humoristisissa muistelmissaan Hu Anyan kuvaa pitkiä öitä hikisissä lajittelukeskuksissa, lähettivuorojen jatkuvaa kiirettä ja pienellä palkalla sinnittelyä, mutta myös hykerryttäviä kohtaamisia ja suosikkikirjojensa tarjoamaa lohtua. Teos avaa ikkunan nyky-Kiinaan, antaa äänen yhteiskuntaa näkymättömissä pyörittäville työläisille ja kysyy, mikä lopulta tuo elämään merkityksen.Hu Anyanin (s. 1979) esikoisteos on noussut Kiinassa sukupolvi-ilmiöksi, ja sen käännösoikeudet on myyty 19 kielialueelle.

Hu Anyanilla on ollut valmistumisensa jälkeen 19 työpaikkaa. Hän on kiertänyt kaupungista toiseen ja elättänyt itsensä muun muassa pikalähettinä, vartijana, myyjänä ja leipurina – ja etsinyt uuden hanttihomman, kun työ on käynyt liian kurjaksi ja pomo liian painostavaksi.Salaviisaissa ja hiljaisen humoristisissa muistelmissaan Hu Anyan kuvaa pitkiä öitä hikisissä lajittelukeskuksissa, lähettivuorojen jatkuvaa kiirettä ja pienellä palkalla sinnittelyä, mutta myös hykerryttäviä kohtaamisia ja suosikkikirjojensa tarjoamaa lohtua. Teos avaa ikkunan nyky-Kiinaan, antaa äänen yhteiskuntaa näkymättömissä pyörittäville työläisille ja kysyy, mikä lopulta tuo elämään merkityksen.Hu Anyanin (s. 1979) esikoisteos on noussut Kiinassa sukupolvi-ilmiöksi, ja sen käännösoikeudet on myyty 19 kielialueelle.