I Deliver Parcels in Beijing: On Making a Living
Language: English
Published by Penguin Books Ltd, 2025
- Hardcover
- Used
Seller: Book Grocer, Tullamarine, VIC, AustraliaBook Grocer
AbeBooks seller since October 15, 2025
Condition: Used
£ 22.81
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Add to basketItem description from seller
Hu Anyan, Penguin Books Ltd. A witty and humane account of one man, multiple jobs and a driving desire to thrive A Book of the Year in the Guardian, Sunday Times, Economist and the Financial Times Hu Anyan has held nineteen different jobs since he graduated. He's 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. A runaway bestseller in China, 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 to get some daylight shut-eye before a punishing night shift, from the Kafkaesque bureaucracy of the hiring departments to the ideal layout of a delivery route, Hu illuminates the hidden lives behind the roles that keep our world going. But he also shows how, through the liberating power of literature, he finds solace, and 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.…
Seller Inventory # 9780241733820-RETAIL
- Title
- I Deliver Parcels in Beijing: On Making a Living
- Author
- Hu Anyan
- Publisher
- Penguin Books Ltd
- Publication year
- 2025
- Book Type
- Hardback
- Binding
- Hardback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0241733820
- ISBN 13
- 9780241733820
- Item weight
- 438 grams
- Dimensions
- 146
A witty and humane account of one man, multiple jobs and what it means to live
A Book of the Year in the Guardian, Sunday Times, Economist and the Financial Times
Shortlisted for the Baifang Schell Book Prize: Award for Outstanding Non-Fiction
Hu AnYan has held nineteen different jobs since he graduated. He’s 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.
A runaway bestseller in China, 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 to get some daylight shut-eye before a punishing night shift, from the Kafkaesque bureaucracy of the hiring departments to the ideal layout of a delivery route, Hu illuminates the hidden lives behind the roles that keep our world going. But he also shows how, through the liberating power of literature, he finds solace, and 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?
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Hu Anyan (Author)
Hu Anyan was born in Guangzhou, China, in 1979. After graduating from secondary 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 (Insight Media, 2023). It has since become a major national bestseller in China and will be translated into fifteen languages.
Jack Hargreaves (Translator)
Jack Hargreaves is a Chinese-English translator. He has translated work by such writers as Li Juan, Lu Xiaoyu, Chai Jing, Shen Dacheng, Gu Qian, Wen Zhen and Chen Chuncheng, among others.
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Book Grocer
Tullamarine, VIC, Australia
AbeBooks seller since October 15, 2025
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