by Tom McCarthy
First published 2016
U. works as a corporate anthropologist, assigned to two massive tasks that should define his career. His company wants him to contribute to an enormous, mysterious project that nobody seems to fully grasp. Meanwhile, he must write the Great Report, a comprehensive study of contemporary society. Instead of making progress on either assignment, U. finds himself lost in endless distractions. He scrolls through images that flood his screen daily: oil disasters, traffic chaos in Africa, groups of roller-bladers moving through city streets. These fragments consume his attention as he searches for hidden patterns that might connect them all. U. becomes convinced that cracking this visual code will reveal the ultimate meaning of modern life. News reports about dead parachutists particularly fascinate him, seeming to hold special significance. As he drifts between procrastination and obsession, U. struggles with the gap between his ambitious assignments and his inability to focus on anything beyond the constant stream of information that surrounds him.
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary, anthropology, 21st-century, academic
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: Africa, Europe
Period: 21st-century
217 pages · Paperback · Vintage