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After Call Work: Verbal Warning
Two very different people. One very common enemy.
Call centres. Contact centres. Outsourcing specialists. Whatever you want to call them, they're the bane of the lives of every poor soul who earns their crust shackled by the ear to a never ending stream of faceless voices, security questions and brown nosing colleagues desperate to get off the phones. Hanging on to their sanity and their jobs as a river of crap rolls downhill from above, Barry and Penny are two such souls.
One is a born loser, HR department harasser and victim of bullying from every angle, rapidly descending into a mental pit of darkness he may never get out of. The other is a popular and attractive party girl who contracts some unwanted guests and vows sweet revenge. Both have an enemy in Stevie; shagger, bully, and all round bad boy.
It's only a matter of time before somebody snaps, and it's not just the customers that are paying.
A black comedy from the mastermind behind The Switched and The Dead Man Trilogy; when all that matters is your handling time and your compliance, how the hell are you going to fit in your After Call Work?
Call centres. Contact centres. Outsourcing specialists. Whatever you want to call them, they're the bane of the lives of every poor soul who earns their crust shackled by the ear to a never ending stream of faceless voices, security questions and brown nosing colleagues desperate to get off the phones. Hanging on to their sanity and their jobs as a river of crap rolls downhill from above, Barry and Penny are two such souls.
One is a born loser, HR department harasser and victim of bullying from every angle, rapidly descending into a mental pit of darkness he may never get out of. The other is a popular and attractive party girl who contracts some unwanted guests and vows sweet revenge. Both have an enemy in Stevie; shagger, bully, and all round bad boy.
It's only a matter of time before somebody snaps, and it's not just the customers that are paying.
A black comedy from the mastermind behind The Switched and The Dead Man Trilogy; when all that matters is your handling time and your compliance, how the hell are you going to fit in your After Call Work?
220 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 30, 2016
4 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
Ryan Bracha
33 books37 followersRyan Bracha is the Amazon-bestselling author of eleven novels, a novella, and a collection of short stories. In his early twenties, he made a brief foray into independent filmmaking. At 24, he wrote and directed his debut feature Tales From Nowhere, a limited-release cult oddity he once described as “Pulp Fiction meets Kes.” Though the film’s lifespan was short, it ignited a passion for bold, unorthodox storytelling.
Ryan spent the next several years honing his voice as a novelist. His debut, Strangers Are Just Friends You Haven’t Killed Yet, took nearly four years to complete, and was followed by a relentless output of raw, genre-defying fiction. Over the course of his writing career, he’s self-published eleven novels, a novella, and a short story collection — each one taking risks and refusing to play it safe.
Though no longer writing fiction intensively, Ryan remains creatively active. He continues to write across other forms and channels his energy as frontman and lyricist for the electronic punk band Misery Prize, bringing the same edge and attitude to the stage as he did to the page. He lives and works in South Yorkshire, where the ideas never quite stop coming.
Visit www.miseryprizeband.co.uk to follow his musical endeavours.
Ryan spent the next several years honing his voice as a novelist. His debut, Strangers Are Just Friends You Haven’t Killed Yet, took nearly four years to complete, and was followed by a relentless output of raw, genre-defying fiction. Over the course of his writing career, he’s self-published eleven novels, a novella, and a short story collection — each one taking risks and refusing to play it safe.
Though no longer writing fiction intensively, Ryan remains creatively active. He continues to write across other forms and channels his energy as frontman and lyricist for the electronic punk band Misery Prize, bringing the same edge and attitude to the stage as he did to the page. He lives and works in South Yorkshire, where the ideas never quite stop coming.
Visit www.miseryprizeband.co.uk to follow his musical endeavours.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 17, 2017
When you find yourself with a big cheesy grin 3 or 4 pages into a book, you get a vibe that the ride is going to be worth it.
And this book was that ride.... Having worked in a few call centres in my life, the office politics, the bitching and the characters were so vivid.
I have heard of the call centre labelled "The factory of the 21st century", and he combines this work house, along with social media, and the lifestyle of poor unfortunates, to tell this tale. No one is left out, from the pretty and popular to the sad and lonely. And no prisoners are taken.
The story, like many of Bracha's takes an unexpected twist, and I loved it.
Not sure I could recommend this book more, it is certainly in contention for my favourite book of the year for 2017
August 2, 2016
After Call Work: Verbal Warning
by Ryan Bracha
Sometime last year I reviewed a book called “Thank You for Your Call” by Robert Leigh.
This was my review;
“Hmm, this could have been so much more. The idea of a call centre worker going out and murdering some of his overzealous complaining callers is one that appealed to me. I was hoping for a character similar to Serge in Tim Dorsy's series...twisted, evil, funny and sadistic with a unswerving sense of righteousness about his deeds. But I found the lead character as annoying as his callers. Of course the book ended with our man on the verge of a new conquest and I guess in time he could become a bit more cynical and humorous about what he does...but i just felt a little let down that the author seemed a little reluctant to inject joy and fun into the killing spree”
So, I come to read After Call Work, by one of the UK’s most exciting “indie writers” around, Ryan Bracha.
If you have read any of his previous work you will know that, apart from his dynamic, no nonsense writing style Ryan Bracha isn’t afraid to deliver, hilarious, inventive and twisted characters and story lines. From the scarily prophetic Dead Man series where he regaled us with the stories of a gang of rogues and rebels trying to make sense of a un-united kingdom that had closed its doors to the rest of the world to his hilarious true life short stories (“The banjo string snapped but the band played on”, “Bogies, and other equally messed up tales of love, lust, drugs and grandad porn” and other twisted tales like “The Switched” and “Strangers are just friends that you haven’t killed yet”, you dive into the mind of a man who can find humour and love in the most evil and violent worlds imaginable.
So I was particularly excited to see Bracha take on the world of the call centre after I felt let down by my previous reading experience in that world.
As you would expect, he doesn’t disappoint.
Although this book is probably as normal as it gets for Bracha (and his characters are based on people he met when he worked in a call centre, I believe). The sad but hilarious decent into murder, rim jobs and STD’s of the books two main characters, Barry (the overweight, socially inept loner who is cruelly and mercilessly bullied by his contemptible protagonist, Steve and the other main character Penny (the sexy heroine, loose of morals, nice heart, unfortunate choice in sexual partners). Penny shows a glimpse of humanity towards Barry after a devastating incident in the call centre toilets and the story takes a twist in more ways than you can imagine.
Penny’s fall from Grace is met head on by Barry’s sad infatuation and soon enough people start to die and the reader is treated to all manner of twists and red herrings that prevent the story from being in anyway predictable and keeps your avid interest from start to finish.
Bracha’s stark and often brutal portrayal of his characters is one of the reasons he is such a great writer and although this outing is set in the real world, in real time with no supernatural or dystopian aids to take it elsewhere, the characters and the situations they find themselves descending into makes this as thrilling as any of his previous books.
I am always disappointed when I finish a Bracha book and this was no exception. So I was delighted to see that After Call Work is book 1 of an up coming series and I just know it’s going to get even funnier and twisted with each book. I can’t wait for the next one.
If you haven’t read any books by Ryan Bracha, this may be the ideal one to prepare you for the rest.
If you haven’t read any books by Ryan Bracha, you must be a knob.
by Ryan Bracha
Sometime last year I reviewed a book called “Thank You for Your Call” by Robert Leigh.
This was my review;
“Hmm, this could have been so much more. The idea of a call centre worker going out and murdering some of his overzealous complaining callers is one that appealed to me. I was hoping for a character similar to Serge in Tim Dorsy's series...twisted, evil, funny and sadistic with a unswerving sense of righteousness about his deeds. But I found the lead character as annoying as his callers. Of course the book ended with our man on the verge of a new conquest and I guess in time he could become a bit more cynical and humorous about what he does...but i just felt a little let down that the author seemed a little reluctant to inject joy and fun into the killing spree”
So, I come to read After Call Work, by one of the UK’s most exciting “indie writers” around, Ryan Bracha.
If you have read any of his previous work you will know that, apart from his dynamic, no nonsense writing style Ryan Bracha isn’t afraid to deliver, hilarious, inventive and twisted characters and story lines. From the scarily prophetic Dead Man series where he regaled us with the stories of a gang of rogues and rebels trying to make sense of a un-united kingdom that had closed its doors to the rest of the world to his hilarious true life short stories (“The banjo string snapped but the band played on”, “Bogies, and other equally messed up tales of love, lust, drugs and grandad porn” and other twisted tales like “The Switched” and “Strangers are just friends that you haven’t killed yet”, you dive into the mind of a man who can find humour and love in the most evil and violent worlds imaginable.
So I was particularly excited to see Bracha take on the world of the call centre after I felt let down by my previous reading experience in that world.
As you would expect, he doesn’t disappoint.
Although this book is probably as normal as it gets for Bracha (and his characters are based on people he met when he worked in a call centre, I believe). The sad but hilarious decent into murder, rim jobs and STD’s of the books two main characters, Barry (the overweight, socially inept loner who is cruelly and mercilessly bullied by his contemptible protagonist, Steve and the other main character Penny (the sexy heroine, loose of morals, nice heart, unfortunate choice in sexual partners). Penny shows a glimpse of humanity towards Barry after a devastating incident in the call centre toilets and the story takes a twist in more ways than you can imagine.
Penny’s fall from Grace is met head on by Barry’s sad infatuation and soon enough people start to die and the reader is treated to all manner of twists and red herrings that prevent the story from being in anyway predictable and keeps your avid interest from start to finish.
Bracha’s stark and often brutal portrayal of his characters is one of the reasons he is such a great writer and although this outing is set in the real world, in real time with no supernatural or dystopian aids to take it elsewhere, the characters and the situations they find themselves descending into makes this as thrilling as any of his previous books.
I am always disappointed when I finish a Bracha book and this was no exception. So I was delighted to see that After Call Work is book 1 of an up coming series and I just know it’s going to get even funnier and twisted with each book. I can’t wait for the next one.
If you haven’t read any books by Ryan Bracha, this may be the ideal one to prepare you for the rest.
If you haven’t read any books by Ryan Bracha, you must be a knob.
August 4, 2016
Ryan Bracha's After Call Work made me laugh and cringe all at the same time. Told from the perspective of socially inept Barry and party girl Penny, the novel puts you in a cheap white shirt and sends you off to one of the worst jobs you could find - customer service in a call centre. Barry's failed suicide bid and Penny's terrible one night-stand with the workplace knob and Lothario, brings the main characters together in a train of comedy, pathos, heart, and vile shenanigans.
Bracha has a golden touch in the way he twists his characters, and so shifts your sentiments. So, Penny goes from loveable to making you want to smack your head at her stupidity, back to loving her again. The real achievement is in Barry's character. My sentiments morphed from wanting to pat him on the head as you would a sad-eyed donkey, to actually wanting to bully him, to feeling guilty about such thoughts. He's a complex character whose friends are all online wrapped from reality by a video game. He has no physical pals to keep him in the real world, and so he views what's outside his computer screen through a sickly treacle and a strict moral code which makes his colleagues squirm from, or attack him with some strong language. It's tough and compelling to read.
In contrast, Penny's a joy. Despite her online humiliation and the growing disaster, she is foul-mouthed, funny, and not embarrassed by her sexual appetite (except if her parents know about it). She can be rough, funny, and full of heart. You warm to her as soon as she shows concern at Barry's treatment after his suicide attempt. You want to spend time with her.
The plot is great, but it's the character choices which turn the pages, with plenty of comedy gold coming from the drug dealer Barry shares a house with, and the two warriors who bring World of Warcraft to the real world.
Whatever job you can't stand right now, here's a novel to make you think twice about quitting so you don't end up in a call centre. Bracha details the soul-sucking nature of the work and the terrible behaviour it induces, or is forced upon you, so well that the idea of being stuck in an office with such people might just be enough to send you out of an upper floor window.
A cracking read. Can't wait for the next two installments in the series.
Bracha has a golden touch in the way he twists his characters, and so shifts your sentiments. So, Penny goes from loveable to making you want to smack your head at her stupidity, back to loving her again. The real achievement is in Barry's character. My sentiments morphed from wanting to pat him on the head as you would a sad-eyed donkey, to actually wanting to bully him, to feeling guilty about such thoughts. He's a complex character whose friends are all online wrapped from reality by a video game. He has no physical pals to keep him in the real world, and so he views what's outside his computer screen through a sickly treacle and a strict moral code which makes his colleagues squirm from, or attack him with some strong language. It's tough and compelling to read.
In contrast, Penny's a joy. Despite her online humiliation and the growing disaster, she is foul-mouthed, funny, and not embarrassed by her sexual appetite (except if her parents know about it). She can be rough, funny, and full of heart. You warm to her as soon as she shows concern at Barry's treatment after his suicide attempt. You want to spend time with her.
The plot is great, but it's the character choices which turn the pages, with plenty of comedy gold coming from the drug dealer Barry shares a house with, and the two warriors who bring World of Warcraft to the real world.
Whatever job you can't stand right now, here's a novel to make you think twice about quitting so you don't end up in a call centre. Bracha details the soul-sucking nature of the work and the terrible behaviour it induces, or is forced upon you, so well that the idea of being stuck in an office with such people might just be enough to send you out of an upper floor window.
A cracking read. Can't wait for the next two installments in the series.
June 6, 2016
Following his success with The Dead Man Series and The Switched, Ryan Bracha has followed up his best works to date by upping the ante once again
After stepping out in the too-accurate dystopian world of New Britain and the Fucked up, satire, The Switched, Bracha is keeping things simple this time and returning to more ‘normal’ settings and characters; as normal as a journey in Brachaland gets at any rate.
Set in a fictional call centre, After Call Work, follows two central characters and narratives. Barry is the consummate, loser. A jobsworth, an underachiever and borderline suicidal, Barry fumbles his way through knife with all the social skills and guile of a five year old.
Penny is more self-assured. Popular, confident and the focus of Barry’s growing desire, the two set things in motion neither can predict nor control.
As regular Bracha-readers have come to expect, the writing is pacey, technically skilful, creative and smacks of great characteristic and character development. Setting the novel in the real world, rather than some futuristic or body-switching earth, takes nothing from the creativity or entertainment of the novel. What it does though is to allow Bracha to utilise all of his skills in placing real people in messed-up situations and peeling away at their emotions, personality, their beliefs in who they are and their ability to endure to the end of his novel.
Bracha has all the talent of a Billy Connelly or a Roddy Doyle in observing people and conveying the best and worst of human nature to his readers with deadly and often funny accuracy.
After Call Work: Verbal Warning is book 1 in a new series. I’m all in.
If you’ve never read a Bracha book before, this is the place to start. If you’re a long term reader, strap in and enjoy another top-notch addition to Bracha’s bulging body of work.
After stepping out in the too-accurate dystopian world of New Britain and the Fucked up, satire, The Switched, Bracha is keeping things simple this time and returning to more ‘normal’ settings and characters; as normal as a journey in Brachaland gets at any rate.
Set in a fictional call centre, After Call Work, follows two central characters and narratives. Barry is the consummate, loser. A jobsworth, an underachiever and borderline suicidal, Barry fumbles his way through knife with all the social skills and guile of a five year old.
Penny is more self-assured. Popular, confident and the focus of Barry’s growing desire, the two set things in motion neither can predict nor control.
As regular Bracha-readers have come to expect, the writing is pacey, technically skilful, creative and smacks of great characteristic and character development. Setting the novel in the real world, rather than some futuristic or body-switching earth, takes nothing from the creativity or entertainment of the novel. What it does though is to allow Bracha to utilise all of his skills in placing real people in messed-up situations and peeling away at their emotions, personality, their beliefs in who they are and their ability to endure to the end of his novel.
Bracha has all the talent of a Billy Connelly or a Roddy Doyle in observing people and conveying the best and worst of human nature to his readers with deadly and often funny accuracy.
After Call Work: Verbal Warning is book 1 in a new series. I’m all in.
If you’ve never read a Bracha book before, this is the place to start. If you’re a long term reader, strap in and enjoy another top-notch addition to Bracha’s bulging body of work.
October 19, 2016
I’ve read most of Bracha’s work and the only thing you can predict is unpredictability. This is no exception. Unlike previous books this one is set in a more mundane reality, the inner workings of a call centre. In some ways it is almost big brother come to literature, with ordinary people rendered fascinating as we study the minutia of their lives, feeling pretty smug by comparison.
Unlike big brother however, ACW isn’t limited to the cabin fever boredom of the TV show. The two very dissimilar protagonists are followed outside the call centre, where they are free to surf the madness of Brach’s rich imagination and its twisted humour. It’s a story that builds steadily before exploding in the final third as it all comes together in a bizarrely humorous murder plot the like of which I’m confident you’ll never have come across.
Inventive, entertaining and highly recommended.
Unlike big brother however, ACW isn’t limited to the cabin fever boredom of the TV show. The two very dissimilar protagonists are followed outside the call centre, where they are free to surf the madness of Brach’s rich imagination and its twisted humour. It’s a story that builds steadily before exploding in the final third as it all comes together in a bizarrely humorous murder plot the like of which I’m confident you’ll never have come across.
Inventive, entertaining and highly recommended.
June 11, 2016
This book is an onion.
"I go past my desk and straight to the toilet. We've got about ten minutes of the brief left and I'm definitely not spending them on the phone. They might call it avoidance but I call it wanker tax. It's the name of the game. You find as many different ways to not do your job as you can in this place. Take five extra minutes to write your notes up instead of when you're on the call, you've earned it for having to listen to some old woman tell you about her dead pets for the last hour, and watch your scheduled break time (along with your mates) come and go. Be a little bit narky or thick on the call now and then so they ask for your manager. I guarantee it'll buy you twenty minutes of talking to Suzy while he's trying to talk the angry customer down. There's a hundred different ways to not do your job. You just have to know how to do it."
The viewpoints of poor, less than popular Barry and beautiful, savvy young Penny deliver a deliciously devious insight into one of the most common of modern vocations.
The story invites you in with Barry and his tale of woe and, the promise of some form of madness or another. What it doesn't do is quite prepare you for the pandemonium of accidental alliances.
Penny offers some sass, along with the unfairly fast downward spiral of one daft decision.
Darkly funny with humour as foetid as poor Barrys smalls and worryingly accurate, Bracha has done it once again.
A definite bookshelf trophy with the bonus of a further 2 on the cards.
Winner.
"I go past my desk and straight to the toilet. We've got about ten minutes of the brief left and I'm definitely not spending them on the phone. They might call it avoidance but I call it wanker tax. It's the name of the game. You find as many different ways to not do your job as you can in this place. Take five extra minutes to write your notes up instead of when you're on the call, you've earned it for having to listen to some old woman tell you about her dead pets for the last hour, and watch your scheduled break time (along with your mates) come and go. Be a little bit narky or thick on the call now and then so they ask for your manager. I guarantee it'll buy you twenty minutes of talking to Suzy while he's trying to talk the angry customer down. There's a hundred different ways to not do your job. You just have to know how to do it."
The viewpoints of poor, less than popular Barry and beautiful, savvy young Penny deliver a deliciously devious insight into one of the most common of modern vocations.
The story invites you in with Barry and his tale of woe and, the promise of some form of madness or another. What it doesn't do is quite prepare you for the pandemonium of accidental alliances.
Penny offers some sass, along with the unfairly fast downward spiral of one daft decision.
Darkly funny with humour as foetid as poor Barrys smalls and worryingly accurate, Bracha has done it once again.
A definite bookshelf trophy with the bonus of a further 2 on the cards.
Winner.
December 15, 2016
Shades of Black Mirror, workplace bullying and two very different main characters, all topped off with Bracha's unique brand of black humour. A deceptively easy read that's funny as hell, and right on the money as far as the inner workings of call centres are concerned. I can't wait to read the next instalment.
June 24, 2017
Personally I can't imagine anything worse than working in a call centre. This book explains why with a solid dose of black humour. Well worth a few hours of your time!
February 20, 2018
Fast read
Enjoyable to say the least and the style of writing is vulgar but modern at the same time very fun book
Enjoyable to say the least and the style of writing is vulgar but modern at the same time very fun book
March 19, 2019
Funny as hell
The writing is very acerbic and hilarious. Bit odd towards the end but I enjoyed it immensely! Definitely going to read the sequel.
The writing is very acerbic and hilarious. Bit odd towards the end but I enjoyed it immensely! Definitely going to read the sequel.
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