Should we really ever bring our whole selves to work?
In a London call centre, Jimmie helps holiday makers with myriad problems, but he is hardly a model employee. He doesn’t simply provide customer service to his clients and advice to his colleagues, he gets involved in their fantasies and frustrations, and now he’s about to be hauled up in front of the boss.
From perfecting his roles as an undertaker and as a clown to performing duties above and beyond his employment contract, he debates the importance of the optimum shade for lipstick and bathroom walls, the pros and cons of nudist versus textile, as well as the psychological impacts of an Italian mother and an emotional support animal.
This is the second, ribald, scatological novel from the brilliant author of The Appointment. Jimmie’s sly, sharp, melancholy insights into the indignities of a world which aims to eliminate the human will make you laugh, weep and never look the same way at an electric carving knife again.
Praise
‘This book is filled with brilliant dialogue, unexpected turns, some very dirty talk with sudden bursts of hilarity, and then fierce sadness. It exudes dark energy. It is highly original. It gives pleasure on every page.’
— Colm Tóibín, author of Brooklyn and Long Island
‘Katharina Volckmer is a risk-taker of the first degree’
— Ian McEwan, author of The Cockroach
‘Katharina Volckmer’s jokes are always consequential, and her novel ends up saying much that is profound about work and isolation and capitalist estrangement.’
— TLS
‘High on slapstick and low on humanity, this novel will make you feel.’
— The Irish Times
‘In hilarious dialogue and inner monologue, scathing observations on everything from late capitalism to wellness culture punctuate Volckmer’s animated prose . . . This is fresh, highly considered work, from a writer deserving of the praise garnered for her debut.’
— Irish Examiner
‘Calls May be Recorded… further cements Volckmer’s prowess as a comic writer. She has a remarkable ability to tread the line between audacity and brilliance. Refreshingly, she isn’t afraid to be provocative with her jokes.’
— The Big Issue
‘Volckmer’s second novel – a send-up of work culture and a celebration of human connections forged in the most unlikely places – is smutty, raucous and highly original.’
—Maria Padget, Service95
‘A bawdy treat, both hilarious and oddly melancholy in turn . . . It’s a shortish read, but packing an unholy amount of fun.’
— Crack Magazine
‘Raucous, incisive and wholly original, the world of Volckmer’s novel lays bare modern life’s gross indignations, mordant desires and naked ambitions with wit and clarity.’
— Eley Williams, author of Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good
‘This book reminds us of why we love Volckmer. She is a true iconoclast. Her work is a hand grenade thrown against the falsities of good taste.’
— Carlos Fonseca, author of Austral
‘The writing is agile . . . the sub-text contains more social criticism than at first meets the eye. It’s a truculent novel which takes full responsibility for itself.’
— Vogue France
‘Iconoclastic, derisive and scatological. It could have been puerile if it were not written so intelligently, with such perfection.’
— Echo
‘Katharina Volckmer has created an unforgettable, ultra-contemporary personality.’
— Lire
‘The author plunges her pen, as funny as it is fierce, into a perfect microcosm, containing all the vices of our sad modern world. It leaves behind stains and a nasty smell, but it bubbles with great spirit.’
— Focus Vif
‘The reader frequently giggles at this satire whose irreverence and sweet madness reminds us of Shalom Auslander.’
— Libération
‘A funny, acerbic, and filter-free portrait of the world of work and contemporary vacuities.’
— Page
