Books >

Ringing For You

Our intrepid narrator is twentysomething, lives in London, and is armed with a master's in the history of punishment. Knowing the finer points of thumb screws and the rack doesn't quite put somebody on the fast track to success, however. So she takes work as a receptionist at the Academy of Material Science. Reading Remembrance of Things Past could fill some of the dull hours behind the desk, but she wants to write a book of her own.

This sharp young woman doesn't need to search for topics -- her own life is intriguing enough. For starters, there's that elusive new man who doesn't want to appear as a character in her book. He becomes The Man Who Mustn't Be Mentioned -- MWMM, or just MMM. And then there's the office. With piercing insight and sharp-edged wit, she exposes the workplace as only an outsider could, deconstructing its hidden hierarchy, the politics of seating in the cafeteria, and the secret lives that employees lead outside of work.

Anouchka Grose Forrester's vibrant novel is a hilariously subversive challenge to office life, romance, and the form of the novel itself. For anyone who has ever been an overworked, underpaid, or overeducated employee, Ringing for Youis dazzling revenge.