A runaway bestseller in China, translated into fifteen languages — the delivery driver who wrote one viral blog post and became a literary phenomenon.
Hu Anyan has held nineteen different jobs since he graduated. He has 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.
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 for some daylight shut-eye before a punishing night shift; from the Kafkaesque bureaucracy of hiring departments to the ideal layout of a delivery route, Hu illuminates the hidden lives behind the roles that keep our world going. And he shows how, through the liberating power of literature, he finds solace — 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?
Translated from the Chinese by Jack Hargreaves. Cover illustrations by Yi Siqi. Allen Lane hardback.
About the author
Hu Anyan was born in Guangzhou, China, in 1979. After graduating from school he joined the workforce, moving between cities and odd jobs to make a living. In 2020, a blog post based on his experience as a delivery driver in Beijing went viral, leading to the publication of his first book, I Deliver Parcels in Beijing (2023) — since a major national bestseller in China.
Perfect for readers of
James Bloodworth's Hired, Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed, Sayaka Murata's Convenience Store Woman — and anyone who has ever taken a job to survive it and read a book to live.
