Seven novels that grapple with the gig economy

Anandi Mishra is a Sweden-based critic and communications professional. She has worked as a reporter for The Times of India and The Hindu. One of her essays has been translated to Italian and published in the Internazionale magazine. Her essays and reviews have appeared in the Public Books, The Atlantic, Los Angeles Review of Books, Virginia Quarterly Review, Popula, The Brooklyn Rail, Al Jazeera, among others.

At Electric Lit Mishra tagged seven books that "show us the varied relationships people have with money, who gets to make it, and at what cost to themselves." One title on the list:

Temporary by Hilary Leichter (2020)

“There is nothing more personal than doing your job.” This mantra guides the unnamed protagonist of Temporary, who is currently between 23 temp gigs while chasing the ultimate dream of a steady, permanent job. She trusts the temp agency to “knead my résumé into a series of paychecks that constitute a life.” She delivers mail, shines shoes at Grand Central, does high-level window cleaning, stands in place of mannequins in stores, and fills in for the Chairman of the Board of a corporation. In the hands of a lesser writer, these exaggerated, absurdist scenarios might fall flat. But Leichter’s deadpan delivery seethes and stings. Temporary questions the way we work now and how a certain sense of depravity in work has been normalized. Is it even possible to stop working?

Read about another entry on the list.

Temporary is among Dustin M. Hoffman's twelve books that center work and working-class lives and Josh Riedel's nine novels about losing / finding yourself in work.

--Marshal Zeringue