The Invoice: A Novel

When one simple man receives a mysterious invoice for 5,700,000 kronor due for payment, several reasonable possibilities as to why come to mind. Fairly levelheaded, he doesn’t know where it’s from, or what it’s for: could it be a mistake? Could it be fraud? Perhaps a government scam? Surely, it must be a mistake.

In reality, it’s a quirky story taking an imaginative look into a world where nothing is free and we are held accountable to pay for experiencing.

When he gets a reminder of missed payment, he calls the help line to solve the mystery, and matters only get worse when the amount on the invoice gets re-evaluated and almost doubles. Now even more panicked and without a means to pay, he makes multiple phone calls to the help line over several days, resulting in a sweet relationship between him and the voice on the other line as he comes to terms with what this invoice is.

Karrlson has written a plot that gave me pause, thinking about the world we live in and our relationship to it and about what my own invoice amount would be. The mystery behind this simple and interesting premise adds an unpredictable humorous charm.