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?

Hu 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?

Under de tio år som gått sedan Huan Yan började arbeta har han rest runt i landet. Han har haft olika jobb, inklusive kurir, nattarbetare på logistikföretag, butikspersonal i cykelaffär, klädbutik och bensinstation. Han omvandlar vardagens detaljer och arbetets glädje och sorg till uppriktiga självberättelser och dokumenterar en vanlig persons slit, själviskhet, värme och integritet i livet. Dessa arbetsupplevelser, skrivna i efterhand, genomsyras av hans inställning och reflektion över livet och världen och syftar till att uttrycka hans konfrontation och bekräftelse av livets mening mitt i begränsade valmöjligheter och trånga realiteter: många vanliga och varaktiga ögonblick i livet är mer avgörande för ens liv än olika verkliga bekymmer.