The Employees

By Olga Ravn, Martin Aitken (translator),

Book cover of The Employees: A workplace novel of the 22nd century

Book description

Now in paperback, The Employees chronicles the fate of the interstellar 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…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked The Employees as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

The novel consists of interviews on a spaceship in the 22nd century.

The writing is beautiful and poetic, describing abstract objects in moving ways. I was deeply impressed how one can piece together various narrative threads through these truncated interviews. And it is a novel inspired by a visual arts exhibit. I love the collaborative aspect of it!

By the end, you’ll begin questioning what it means to be human. It’s translated from Danish, so yes, please, everyone read more translated fiction!

Want books like The Employees?

Our community of 11,000+ authors has personally recommended 80 books like The Employees.

Browse books like The Employees

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in spacecraft, interstellar travel, and space horror?

Spacecraft 39 books
Space Horror 26 books