The Temp Is It? - Simon Carroll

Simon has always felt like the odd man out. Never quite fitting any job requirement perfectly, the culture of 1980s Manchester doesn't seem to have anything to offer him, and he doesn't have anything to offer it. Still, needing to do his part Simon moves from job to job, attempting to find whatever joy he can in the monotony of the bottom of the barrel stuff he signs up to do in exchange for quick cash. With the pointlessness of Simon's existence starting to take its toll, just dragging himself out of bed in the morning to make enough money so he can crash back there at night has become a gargantuan task. Drifting from place to place with only his boozing and cynical worldview to keep him company, Simon tries his best to not let the realities of his consumerist existence get in the way of his one true love: doing as little as possible. Dealing with sadistic bosses and inept co-workers in often unintentionally hilarious situations, Simon's hopeless run-ins with new career paths are always doomed from the start, but he pulls through by finding the bleakest humour in even the most hellish situations. The monotony and unlikely charm of the 1980s economic climate is evocatively brought to life in Simon Carroll's The Temp, Is It? Searching for the mythical holy grail of "job satisfaction," Simon wanders aimlessly from temp job to temp job and bar to bar hoping to not really find anything of meaning, but just whatever he needs to get by.