The Employees - Reading Guide
What does Olga Ravn say about our obsession with work - and do you agree with a judge’s opinion that the book is ‘a novel about love’?
Olga Ravn explores what it really means to be human, while questioning the logic of productivity and a life governed by work. Translated by Martin Aitken.
The near-distant future. Millions of miles from Earth. The crew of the Six-Thousand Ship consists of those who were born, and those who were made. Those who will die, and those who will not. When the ship takes on board a number of objects from a strange new planet, the crew find themselves becoming deeply attached to them. Human and humanoid employees both start aching for the same things. Warmth and intimacy. Loved ones who have passed. The far-away Earth, which now only persists in memory.
Olga Ravn
About the Author
Olga Ravn is one of Denmark’s most celebrated contemporary authors.
Martin Aitken
About the Translator
Martin Aitken has translated numerous novels from Danish and Norwegian, including works by Karl Ove Knausgaard, Peter Høeg, Ida Jessen, and Kim Leine.Actor Lucy Phelps reads an extract from The Employees
Actor Lucy Phelps reads an extract from The Employees, written by by Olga Ravn, translated by Martin Aitken and shortlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize.
This video was created for Edinburgh International Book Festival in partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and directed by Blanche McIntyre.
I wanted a space that was completely confined, with no exit, and I also wanted to see what would happen if human beings were taken out of their ecology, away from Earth
