The EmployeesThe Employees
Score Modern
What it's about
A science fiction voyage reshuffled into a riotously original existential nightmare.
Why it's worth reading
It was a finalist for the International Booker Prize.
You'll love it if you liked
The Memory Police
Never Let Me Go
The White BookGood to know
It's short and experimental.
By the numbers
- Readers5 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics27 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Bestseller29 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Buzz19 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #312 of the 333 science fiction books we rank
- #1552 of the 1,647 modern books we rank
- #2908 of the 3,056 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
Epic, Adventurous, Thought-provoking
If you like this, read next
A Game of Thrones
The Fifth Season
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Gideon the Ninth
Red Rising
OutlanderExplore the best-of lists
All 47 best-of lists →
Science fiction booksTop 25 · 333 ranked
Modern booksTop 25 · 1,647 ranked
Books of the 2010sTop 25 · 751 ranked
Fantasy booksTop 25 · 504 ranked
Mysteries and thrillersTop 25 · 623 ranked
Literary novelsTop 25 · 325 ranked
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelsTop 25 · 63 ranked
Memoirs and biographiesTop 25 · 290 rankedQuick answers
Is The Employees worth reading?
Yes. It was a finalist for the International Booker Prize. It ranks #2,908 of the 3,056 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 55.2 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is The Employees about?
A science fiction voyage reshuffled into a riotously original existential nightmare.
How long does it take to read The Employees?
About 4 hours (144 pages), or about 8 days at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after The Employees?
If you liked it, try The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro or The White Book by Han Kang.