There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job

Contemporary Japanese fiction has gained more traction in the United States after the publication of Convenience Store Woman was published a couple of years ago. The popularity of that novel has led to an increase in the number of Japanese books translated into English, but more specifically focused on the ennui of the modern Japanese worker’s life. This book is the first book published in English by Kikuko Tsumura, who has won several literary prizes in Japan. The book follows a young woman through various temp agency jobs that often feel otherworldly, and strange. She held a full-time normal position but quit due to burnout though we never find out where she worked or what the burnout entailed. Instead, she takes on temporary jobs that are close to her one-bedroom apartment, and preferably ones to where she can ship items too. Each job has its own quirks. Fans of Convenience Store Woman will enjoy this book as it has some of the same elements, including the task of finding a job that has meaning in a world that has increasingly lost all sense of meaning and control for the working person.