What do you think?
Rate this book
Admin Is Hell
"Lawyers. You see, in days gone by, it was enough for a soul to be licentious and covetous and mean-spirited, and down here they’d end up. But now, we’ve got souls hiring lawyers to get them off, or get them a reduced sentence to Purgatory or maybe a lesser ring of Hell."
When a sneaky, festive, extra-marital tryst ends in a double murder and suicidal bloodbath, you can be certain that there will hell to pay.
Charles, for his sins, finds that he's been accepted for an eternal stay in the luxurious office buildings of Hell. The only people in all of Hell who seem to care at all are Charles' co-worker, Jocelyn, and a demon taxi driver called Pudenda. Nothing about the place is fair or reasonable and there is nothing that anybody can do about it. From the Vengeance Is Mine versus An Eye For An Eye court case, through murderous team building with Viking raiders and a special Hellympic Games, Hell seems to have gotten itself lost in a mire of rules and compliance. Can Charles make sense of it all before Hell grinds him down to a terrified, quivering mess, or will he just keep his head down and do as he is told?
Admin Is Hell is a short novel about life, sin, the afterlife, belief and doing the right thing. The story follows the journey of possibly the most unremarkable and insignificant sinner in all of Hell as he struggles to understand his job, his surroundings and the meaning of everything that is. It is clear from the very outset that if Hell is looking for a hero, Charles is not the man for the job.
Admin Is Hell is an adult book and is not suitable for children.
Brief background: Admin Is Hell and its upcoming sequel are about certainty – the comfort of certainty. By ‘certainty’ here I mean, mostly religious certainty, but also political certainty. Make a statement that seeks to say something about your values and what you hold to be self-evident and try to live by that. Over time, however, it becomes apparent that ‘evidence’ is rather more definite than is opinion, which is all that religious (and political) certainty really boils down to. Are we willing to shape the world based on nothing better than an unassailable idea, with no room for debate, dissent or alternatives? Treading that path sees us kill each other in huge numbers because, give it long enough, and people eventually forget that these ideas they’re living by are only ideas, and nothing more. The book is also about the perils of being a ‘yes man’, going along with things because it seems like the less perilous thing personally to do. You can do horrific things with the justification that others told you to do it, or ‘made’ you do it, but where does it stop? This ties in with the religious certainty and is one of the themes of the first book in this universe particularly (book two is in the planning stages).
When a sneaky, festive, extra-marital tryst ends in a double murder and suicidal bloodbath, you can be certain that there will hell to pay.
Charles, for his sins, finds that he's been accepted for an eternal stay in the luxurious office buildings of Hell. The only people in all of Hell who seem to care at all are Charles' co-worker, Jocelyn, and a demon taxi driver called Pudenda. Nothing about the place is fair or reasonable and there is nothing that anybody can do about it. From the Vengeance Is Mine versus An Eye For An Eye court case, through murderous team building with Viking raiders and a special Hellympic Games, Hell seems to have gotten itself lost in a mire of rules and compliance. Can Charles make sense of it all before Hell grinds him down to a terrified, quivering mess, or will he just keep his head down and do as he is told?
Admin Is Hell is a short novel about life, sin, the afterlife, belief and doing the right thing. The story follows the journey of possibly the most unremarkable and insignificant sinner in all of Hell as he struggles to understand his job, his surroundings and the meaning of everything that is. It is clear from the very outset that if Hell is looking for a hero, Charles is not the man for the job.
Admin Is Hell is an adult book and is not suitable for children.
Brief background: Admin Is Hell and its upcoming sequel are about certainty – the comfort of certainty. By ‘certainty’ here I mean, mostly religious certainty, but also political certainty. Make a statement that seeks to say something about your values and what you hold to be self-evident and try to live by that. Over time, however, it becomes apparent that ‘evidence’ is rather more definite than is opinion, which is all that religious (and political) certainty really boils down to. Are we willing to shape the world based on nothing better than an unassailable idea, with no room for debate, dissent or alternatives? Treading that path sees us kill each other in huge numbers because, give it long enough, and people eventually forget that these ideas they’re living by are only ideas, and nothing more. The book is also about the perils of being a ‘yes man’, going along with things because it seems like the less perilous thing personally to do. You can do horrific things with the justification that others told you to do it, or ‘made’ you do it, but where does it stop? This ties in with the religious certainty and is one of the themes of the first book in this universe particularly (book two is in the planning stages).
- GenresFantasy
149 pages, Paperback
First published June 30, 2012
154 people want to read
About the author
Michael Pugh
23 books13 followersI'm a British author who writes novels and other books across several genres.
My books so far cover:
* Hell (Admin Is Hell)
* zombies (The Undead: Book One, Overview and The Undead: Book Two, North America)
* vampires (The Liverpool Vampire and its follow up, Judgement Of The Vampire)
* romantic comedy (How Long Have You Really Got?)
* mental illness (The Box of Mirrors
* anti-war (Sergeant Cuddlington and The War At Sea)
as well as the comedy self-help books, Wife Maintenance Quarterly and Wife Maintenance Quarterly II.
Future novels include:
* the rest of the zombie series, The Undead
* two more vampire novels
* the sequel to Admin Is Hell
I’m a lefty British author who believes in equality. I write fiction without filler, because I have no interest in filler; life’s too short to write it, and I certainly wouldn’t want to waste anyone’s time expecting them to read it. My work is relatively short and to the point, with all of my books so far landing between 5,000 and 85,000 words. It’s my job to tell you the story I want to tell you without distractions, because you’re busy and I wouldn’t insult you with thousands of words of padding!
As well as being a fabulous writer and world renowned expert on practically nothing useful, I am disabled and am undergoing treatment for gender reassignment. Neither of those things define me as a person, but they are parts of me that I have no reason to hide and every reason to be open about. Disability and gender/sexual issues are too often overlooked or used to pigeon-hole people, as if the individual spoken about was lost behind the glare of their label.
I have been married to Jenny since 2010 and we live together in Liverpool. As well as doing her quality wifing, Jenny also acts as editor and publicist for all of my works.
If you have a question for me or Jenny, you can email us at the_pughs@ymail.com.
You can friend me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...
My books so far cover:
* Hell (Admin Is Hell)
* zombies (The Undead: Book One, Overview and The Undead: Book Two, North America)
* vampires (The Liverpool Vampire and its follow up, Judgement Of The Vampire)
* romantic comedy (How Long Have You Really Got?)
* mental illness (The Box of Mirrors
* anti-war (Sergeant Cuddlington and The War At Sea)
as well as the comedy self-help books, Wife Maintenance Quarterly and Wife Maintenance Quarterly II.
Future novels include:
* the rest of the zombie series, The Undead
* two more vampire novels
* the sequel to Admin Is Hell
I’m a lefty British author who believes in equality. I write fiction without filler, because I have no interest in filler; life’s too short to write it, and I certainly wouldn’t want to waste anyone’s time expecting them to read it. My work is relatively short and to the point, with all of my books so far landing between 5,000 and 85,000 words. It’s my job to tell you the story I want to tell you without distractions, because you’re busy and I wouldn’t insult you with thousands of words of padding!
As well as being a fabulous writer and world renowned expert on practically nothing useful, I am disabled and am undergoing treatment for gender reassignment. Neither of those things define me as a person, but they are parts of me that I have no reason to hide and every reason to be open about. Disability and gender/sexual issues are too often overlooked or used to pigeon-hole people, as if the individual spoken about was lost behind the glare of their label.
I have been married to Jenny since 2010 and we live together in Liverpool. As well as doing her quality wifing, Jenny also acts as editor and publicist for all of my works.
If you have a question for me or Jenny, you can email us at the_pughs@ymail.com.
You can friend me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 4, 2021
Okay, so, I totally dove into Admin Is Hell for a specific challenge. It was never on my radar until this weekend and I'm kind of happy that I dove into it.
The book definitely had some funny moments and it was interesting to see the main character going through so many jobs and punishments that were assigned to him. I laughed and definitely thought about how I would go into these certain situations myself. Hands down, it would be as funny as what happened but I have a feeling I wouldn't like most of these jobs and would complain - a lot.
I just kind of wanted more from this. Not necessarily more monsters or jobs and such. It's just something I felt while reading and I'm not even sure what was exactly missing. In a weird way, I just wanted more.
The book definitely had some funny moments and it was interesting to see the main character going through so many jobs and punishments that were assigned to him. I laughed and definitely thought about how I would go into these certain situations myself. Hands down, it would be as funny as what happened but I have a feeling I wouldn't like most of these jobs and would complain - a lot.
I just kind of wanted more from this. Not necessarily more monsters or jobs and such. It's just something I felt while reading and I'm not even sure what was exactly missing. In a weird way, I just wanted more.
July 28, 2013
I won this book in the Goodreads Giveaway and was at first a little sceptical about the standard of the books which would be on offer as I had never won one before. Thankfully this was soon lifted as I started reading.
Admin Is Hell is a comical (well as comical as Hell can be) look at the daily grind of one mans life in Hell as he goes about the jobs/punishments assigned to him.
Usually I prefer your normal horror novels but this I would recommend to any fan of the horror genre. Has enough of the monsters and other evil to satisfy with some great dry wit thrown in to give it something different.
Admin Is Hell is a comical (well as comical as Hell can be) look at the daily grind of one mans life in Hell as he goes about the jobs/punishments assigned to him.
Usually I prefer your normal horror novels but this I would recommend to any fan of the horror genre. Has enough of the monsters and other evil to satisfy with some great dry wit thrown in to give it something different.
June 30, 2013
I won this book in a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway, and would not be my usual choice of book genre.
After a grusome, graphic start, this book turned out to be a humerous look at life working in Hell's admin department. The little twist at the end left me smiling!
After a grusome, graphic start, this book turned out to be a humerous look at life working in Hell's admin department. The little twist at the end left me smiling!
January 12, 2014
Recieved this book in the Goodreads giveaway.
I was surprised to find that i actually really enjoyed it. It has a unique storyline and unexpected ending. The protagonist could have had a little more character, however the little adventures/missions through hell were very interesting.
I was surprised to find that i actually really enjoyed it. It has a unique storyline and unexpected ending. The protagonist could have had a little more character, however the little adventures/missions through hell were very interesting.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews