Night Work (Glavinic novel)

The novel, set in modern-day Vienna, is a post-apocalyptic exploration around themes of solitude and existential philosophy.

The plot concerns a central character, Jonas, who wakes up one day to discover that everyone else has vanished from the city, perhaps the world, without trace; he appears to be the only person left.

As he attempts to discover what could possibly explain such a situation, the days pass and he begins to realise that he is performing strange activities when asleep. A struggle ensues as Jonas tries to control his unconscious actions while he continues to search in vain for other human life. At the novel's close, Jonas throws himself from a tower to his death.

The UK edition received a generally positive reception from critics. The Guardian referred to the book as being “at times genuinely horrific” because of the author’s skill in manipulating the “reader's constant anxiety that [he] won't, indeed can't, deliver a solution to his own mystery”.[1] The Independent claimed that the novel, “functions both as an outstanding fictionalisation of Freud's essay The Uncanny, and as a superior literary thriller packed with invention and suspense”.[2] The Scotland on Sunday said it was “strong on intrigue” and “seriously frightening”.[3]

• Glavinic, Thomas (2008-07-25), Night Work (1st ed.), Edinburgh: Canongate ISBN 978-1-84767-051-9

• Thomas Glavinic and Night Work, Canongate website
• Night Work, Thomas Glavinic official website (German)
• Night Work, Hanser website (German)