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9번의 일
그저 일이 하고 싶었던 한 남자의 조용한 비극
《딸에 대하여》의 저자 김혜진이 2년여 만에 펴낸 장편소설 『9번의 일』. 권고사직을 거부한 채 회사에 남아 계속해서 일을 해나가는 한 남자를 통해 일에 대한 이야기이거나 혹은 일하는 사람에 대한 이야기, 어쩌면 그 둘 사이를 채운 어떤 보이지 않는 것에 대한 이야기를 들려준다. 평온한 삶의 근간을 갉아가는 일의 실체를 담담하면서도 집요하게 들여다본다.
수리와 설치, 보수 업무를 담당하는 통신회사 현장팀에서 26년을 일한 ‘9번 남자’는 저성과자로 분류돼 세 번째 재교육을 받기 직전, 부장의 호출을 받는다. 부장은 그에게 권고사직을 권유하지만 그는 그 제안을 거절한다. 결국 최하등급을 받고 타 지역 거점 센터로 발령이 나 인터넷 상품 영업 일을 하게 된다. 상품 계약을 못 한 달은 월급에서 30퍼센트가 삭감된다. 그는 그 일이 자신에게 새로운 업무를 부여하는 게 아니라 어떤 업무도 주지 않겠다는 의미라는 걸 곧 깨닫는다.
그리고 얼마 뒤, 그는 외국인 노동자 기숙사의 공유기를 무료로 교체해준 일로 업무 촉구서 경고장을 받게 된다. 곧 두 번째, 세 번째 촉구서가 이어진다. 2주 뒤, 그는 다시 한 번 떠밀리듯 지방 소도시 시설1팀 분기국사로 발령 난다. 그곳에서 그는 인터넷 수리와 설치, 보수 업무 일을 하며 일상을 되찾으려 노력한다. 하지만 휴가를 내고 친구의 죽음을 추모하는 노제에 참석하고 온 다음 날 무단결근 통보를 받게 되고 곧 출퇴근 명부에서 이름이 삭제된다.
그는 노조에 가입한다. 몇 달의 투쟁 끝에, 그는 본사 소속이 아닌 하청업체 소속으로서 변두리의 한 소읍인 78구역으로 복직한다. 그리고 그곳에선 통신탑 설치를 반대하는 마을 사람들이 그를 기다리고 있다. 그는 그곳에서 어떤 선택을 하게 될까? 언제까지, 어디까지 밀려나게 될까? 이렇게까지 밀려나면서도 회사를 그만둘 수 없는 이유를 결국 찾게 될까?
《딸에 대하여》의 저자 김혜진이 2년여 만에 펴낸 장편소설 『9번의 일』. 권고사직을 거부한 채 회사에 남아 계속해서 일을 해나가는 한 남자를 통해 일에 대한 이야기이거나 혹은 일하는 사람에 대한 이야기, 어쩌면 그 둘 사이를 채운 어떤 보이지 않는 것에 대한 이야기를 들려준다. 평온한 삶의 근간을 갉아가는 일의 실체를 담담하면서도 집요하게 들여다본다.
수리와 설치, 보수 업무를 담당하는 통신회사 현장팀에서 26년을 일한 ‘9번 남자’는 저성과자로 분류돼 세 번째 재교육을 받기 직전, 부장의 호출을 받는다. 부장은 그에게 권고사직을 권유하지만 그는 그 제안을 거절한다. 결국 최하등급을 받고 타 지역 거점 센터로 발령이 나 인터넷 상품 영업 일을 하게 된다. 상품 계약을 못 한 달은 월급에서 30퍼센트가 삭감된다. 그는 그 일이 자신에게 새로운 업무를 부여하는 게 아니라 어떤 업무도 주지 않겠다는 의미라는 걸 곧 깨닫는다.
그리고 얼마 뒤, 그는 외국인 노동자 기숙사의 공유기를 무료로 교체해준 일로 업무 촉구서 경고장을 받게 된다. 곧 두 번째, 세 번째 촉구서가 이어진다. 2주 뒤, 그는 다시 한 번 떠밀리듯 지방 소도시 시설1팀 분기국사로 발령 난다. 그곳에서 그는 인터넷 수리와 설치, 보수 업무 일을 하며 일상을 되찾으려 노력한다. 하지만 휴가를 내고 친구의 죽음을 추모하는 노제에 참석하고 온 다음 날 무단결근 통보를 받게 되고 곧 출퇴근 명부에서 이름이 삭제된다.
그는 노조에 가입한다. 몇 달의 투쟁 끝에, 그는 본사 소속이 아닌 하청업체 소속으로서 변두리의 한 소읍인 78구역으로 복직한다. 그리고 그곳에선 통신탑 설치를 반대하는 마을 사람들이 그를 기다리고 있다. 그는 그곳에서 어떤 선택을 하게 될까? 언제까지, 어디까지 밀려나게 될까? 이렇게까지 밀려나면서도 회사를 그만둘 수 없는 이유를 결국 찾게 될까?
- GenresFiction
260 pages, Hardcover
Published October 10, 2019
About the author
Kim Hye-jin
16 books176 followersKim Hye-jin was born in Daegu, Korea, in 1983. She debuted in 2012 when her story ‘Chicken Run’ won Dong-A Ilbo’s Spring Literary Award. She won the Joongang Novel Prize for Joongang Station, and the Shin Dong-yup Prize for Literature for Concerning My Daughter.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 4, 2021
Money can make people monsters.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
In a few years, Juno would have a job of his own. He would stumble across something we would be inexplicably drawn to, and when that think turned into his work, he would learn just how much change it would bring. Continuing to do things he didn't enjoy or want in order to do the work he did want, he would watch as the work changed him.
10년 뒤, 15년 뒤. 준오도 자신의 일을 갖게 될 거였다. 그러니까 자신도 모르게 이끌리는 어떤 일을 발견하게 될 거였다. 그러나 그것이 진짜 일이 되는 순간, 얼마나 많은 것들이 바뀌어버리는지 아이도 알게 될 거였다. 그 일을 지속하기 위해, 바라지도 않고 원하지도 않는 일을 계속하면서 자신이 어떤 사람으로 바뀌어버리는지 깨닫게 될 거였다.
Employee No. 9 is Jamie Chang's translation of 9번의 일 by 김혜진 (Kim Hye-jin).
The novel is told from the close third person perspective of someone who has worked as a repairer/installer/maintainance man for 26 years, a firm he joined when it was small, and while now a large corporation, one he is proud to work for.
He's 10 years from scheduled retirement, and keen to work it. However, the company is changing, with new managers and even security guards without a sense of the company's history or his contribution.
There's no smoking everywhere on the premises now.
The man took a long drag, held it in deep, then put out the cigarette.
Why on earth would they hire a kid who knows nothing about this place?
The man and his coworkers had been smoking there for years. The NO SMOKING sign had gone up ages ago, but no one had ever paid attention to it. The man realized there would be no such leniency over anything from here on. People who might have shown such understanding were gone now.
And the company offers him and other long-serving employees generous severance terms - but which he refuses to take.
The firm put him through performance reviews (where he is judged on irrelevant skills such as sales), retraining programs and post him to various, often pointless and/or unpleasant, roles around the country, where he is forced to live away from home for extended periods. But he refuses to quit - and comes to the realisation that's it's because he wishes to retain agency:
He didn't have it in him to explain why he wanted to stay at this company, despite being tempted to quit dozens of times a day. What was he trying not to lose by going to such extremes, and was it working? He couldn't tell.
But the one thing he could say with certainty was that no one was forcing him into this situation. This was his choice-that much he could say.
A very quick and, in literary terms, simple read but one which particularly resonated for me.
10년 뒤, 15년 뒤. 준오도 자신의 일을 갖게 될 거였다. 그러니까 자신도 모르게 이끌리는 어떤 일을 발견하게 될 거였다. 그러나 그것이 진짜 일이 되는 순간, 얼마나 많은 것들이 바뀌어버리는지 아이도 알게 될 거였다. 그 일을 지속하기 위해, 바라지도 않고 원하지도 않는 일을 계속하면서 자신이 어떤 사람으로 바뀌어버리는지 깨닫게 될 거였다.
Employee No. 9 is Jamie Chang's translation of 9번의 일 by 김혜진 (Kim Hye-jin).
The novel is told from the close third person perspective of someone who has worked as a repairer/installer/maintainance man for 26 years, a firm he joined when it was small, and while now a large corporation, one he is proud to work for.
He's 10 years from scheduled retirement, and keen to work it. However, the company is changing, with new managers and even security guards without a sense of the company's history or his contribution.
There's no smoking everywhere on the premises now.
The man took a long drag, held it in deep, then put out the cigarette.
Why on earth would they hire a kid who knows nothing about this place?
The man and his coworkers had been smoking there for years. The NO SMOKING sign had gone up ages ago, but no one had ever paid attention to it. The man realized there would be no such leniency over anything from here on. People who might have shown such understanding were gone now.
And the company offers him and other long-serving employees generous severance terms - but which he refuses to take.
The firm put him through performance reviews (where he is judged on irrelevant skills such as sales), retraining programs and post him to various, often pointless and/or unpleasant, roles around the country, where he is forced to live away from home for extended periods. But he refuses to quit - and comes to the realisation that's it's because he wishes to retain agency:
He didn't have it in him to explain why he wanted to stay at this company, despite being tempted to quit dozens of times a day. What was he trying not to lose by going to such extremes, and was it working? He couldn't tell.
But the one thing he could say with certainty was that no one was forcing him into this situation. This was his choice-that much he could say.
A very quick and, in literary terms, simple read but one which particularly resonated for me.
Review of advance copy
Employee No. 9 is a dystopian book depicting the corrupt society that we live in. It really isn’t far off from our world, and I think it’s hauntingly striking in its similarities. Employee No. 9 is your regular guy working his 9-to-5 in IT. He has your regular struggles; his mother is sick, and his wife is injured. He needs to earn enough money for his son’s college tuition, and as his company keeps offering severance packages, enticing him to quit his job, he refuses at every turn. Not when he watches his coworkers suffer from the consequences of staying, as they all finally decide to retire. Not when he is demoted multiple times, having to relocate and stay away from his family for multiple years. As time passes, the man slowly loses a part of his humanity, becoming almost numb to what goes on in real life. All he wants is to keep his job, to keep this constant. He knows that he could quit, that he could try to find a new job, but the stability that many of us enjoy in life keeps him rooted to the ground.
This all culminates in a terrifying conflict as he must install signal towers in a small village. The townspeople vehemently protest the installation. In fact, they block the workers from the sites and fight against them. It escalates multiple times, causing people to be injured, news reports to be written, and lawsuits to be filed.
At the end of the story, the man looks back at his actions, and he decides what he must do. Does he stay in the endless cycle of what only result as pain for him? Or does he fight back against the system that holds these rules in place?
It is very well written and a short read. Although there isn’t a lot of action, it is very thought-provoking, and for that it deserves your time. I enjoyed reading it, and I believe that anyone interested in society and government should read it too.
This all culminates in a terrifying conflict as he must install signal towers in a small village. The townspeople vehemently protest the installation. In fact, they block the workers from the sites and fight against them. It escalates multiple times, causing people to be injured, news reports to be written, and lawsuits to be filed.
At the end of the story, the man looks back at his actions, and he decides what he must do. Does he stay in the endless cycle of what only result as pain for him? Or does he fight back against the system that holds these rules in place?
It is very well written and a short read. Although there isn’t a lot of action, it is very thought-provoking, and for that it deserves your time. I enjoyed reading it, and I believe that anyone interested in society and government should read it too.
November 5, 2026
Di novel ini, kita dibawa pada sudut pandang pria yg paruh baya, yg bekerja sebagai engginer lapangan yg bekerja di perusahaan telekomunikasi. Pria itu berasal dari desa, yang memilih merantau ke kota untuk kehidupan yg lebih baik. Sementara abang, dan ibunya tetap di desa bekerja sebagai petani. Pria tersebut merasa ia tidak memiliki capabilitas untuk menjadi seorang petani. Ia pun menikah dengan Haesun dan memiliki anak laki laki bernama Juno..
Konflik di novel ini mengangkat suka duka seorang anak, ayah, suami yg berjuang demi keluarga. Permasalahan muncul ketika perusahaan tempat ia bekerja mengalami permasalahan, dan ia dihadapkan pilihan tetap bekerja di perusahaan atau memutuskan untuk pensiun
Pria itu memutuskan untuk bertahan, walaupun ia ditempatkan di berbagai daerah terpencil. Haesun berkali" melarang, agar pria tersebut agar pensiun saja, ntah apa yg dipikirkan pria itu, ia tetap melanjutkan pekerjaannya.
Ditempat yg berbeda" itu, apakah hidupnya berjalan dengan mudah? Tentu saja tidak, rekan kerja yg tidak suka akan kehadirannya dan mengucilkannya..Belum lagi ia harus menghadapi penduduk desa yang menenatang pembanguan tower di desa mereka.
Di akhir cerita Juno, menelpon pria tersebut, mengabari bahwa ia diterima kuliah, di fakultas kedokteran hewan. Pria tersebut sangat bahagia akan kabar itu, dan membayangkan kehidupan yg harus di lalui anaknya ketika kuliah, bagaiaman kehidupan juno setelah lulus nanti, dan berapa total biaya yg harus dipersiapkannya untuk kuliah juno...
Ku salut lah, dengan ke tahanan dia dari berbagai cara perusahaan untuk memberhentikan pria itu. Walopun endingnya pria tersebut bekerja memasang tower" di desa", ia pun jauh dari keluarga. Raga nya tidak sekuat dulu, tetapi ia sangat mencintai pekerjaan nya tersebut..
Konflik di novel ini mengangkat suka duka seorang anak, ayah, suami yg berjuang demi keluarga. Permasalahan muncul ketika perusahaan tempat ia bekerja mengalami permasalahan, dan ia dihadapkan pilihan tetap bekerja di perusahaan atau memutuskan untuk pensiun
Pria itu memutuskan untuk bertahan, walaupun ia ditempatkan di berbagai daerah terpencil. Haesun berkali" melarang, agar pria tersebut agar pensiun saja, ntah apa yg dipikirkan pria itu, ia tetap melanjutkan pekerjaannya.
Ditempat yg berbeda" itu, apakah hidupnya berjalan dengan mudah? Tentu saja tidak, rekan kerja yg tidak suka akan kehadirannya dan mengucilkannya..Belum lagi ia harus menghadapi penduduk desa yang menenatang pembanguan tower di desa mereka.
Di akhir cerita Juno, menelpon pria tersebut, mengabari bahwa ia diterima kuliah, di fakultas kedokteran hewan. Pria tersebut sangat bahagia akan kabar itu, dan membayangkan kehidupan yg harus di lalui anaknya ketika kuliah, bagaiaman kehidupan juno setelah lulus nanti, dan berapa total biaya yg harus dipersiapkannya untuk kuliah juno...
Ku salut lah, dengan ke tahanan dia dari berbagai cara perusahaan untuk memberhentikan pria itu. Walopun endingnya pria tersebut bekerja memasang tower" di desa", ia pun jauh dari keluarga. Raga nya tidak sekuat dulu, tetapi ia sangat mencintai pekerjaan nya tersebut..
Review of advance copy
Employee No. 9 was a tough read. Not because its difficult to relate to our unnamed ('the man') protagonist, or that his situation is unrealistic, but rather because this bleak, hopeless, kafka-esque experience hews far too close to our real world.
After decades, but not enough decades for pension and retirement, working for a unnamed telecom company our protagonist through a variety of impersonal corporate maneuvering is removed from the job and field he's done most of his professional life and shuffled through a variety of positions and offices without choice. Here is assigned to increasingly meaningless and pointless tasks for which he's never been trained, and when he exercises any amount of ingenuity or pro-activeness in order to be successful he is drowned in complaints (some real, some seemingly invented by the corporation), reprimanded, and demoted/moved again. Outside of work, his immediate family has tried to make the right choices their whole life...dedicated to working hard, investing as advised, sending their son to a good school...only to find themselves increasingly isolated from one another and everyone around them as they battle the increasingly insurmountable task of staying afloat in a modern capitalist society. They face failures and unforeseen problems with almost every choice they've made, with nowhere to turn to for support.
This book may be timely. And is explicitly anti-corporate and anti-capitalist. Its a bleak existentialist mirror on trying to survive by doing what we've always been told are the right things in our societies.
After decades, but not enough decades for pension and retirement, working for a unnamed telecom company our protagonist through a variety of impersonal corporate maneuvering is removed from the job and field he's done most of his professional life and shuffled through a variety of positions and offices without choice. Here is assigned to increasingly meaningless and pointless tasks for which he's never been trained, and when he exercises any amount of ingenuity or pro-activeness in order to be successful he is drowned in complaints (some real, some seemingly invented by the corporation), reprimanded, and demoted/moved again. Outside of work, his immediate family has tried to make the right choices their whole life...dedicated to working hard, investing as advised, sending their son to a good school...only to find themselves increasingly isolated from one another and everyone around them as they battle the increasingly insurmountable task of staying afloat in a modern capitalist society. They face failures and unforeseen problems with almost every choice they've made, with nowhere to turn to for support.
This book may be timely. And is explicitly anti-corporate and anti-capitalist. Its a bleak existentialist mirror on trying to survive by doing what we've always been told are the right things in our societies.
Review of advance copy
3.9/5
Thank you for the ARC, LibraryThing and Restless Books, of Kim Hye-jin's "Employee No.9"! This was a short yet scathing commentary on the harms perpetuated by big corporations and capitalism, as portrayed through the very micro-level view, life, and work of the man/Employee No. 9. Kim Hye-jin packed a great deal of character development and explorations of work and purpose into this short novel, ending it at the beginning of the main character's descent into a cycle of destruction and repetition.
Thank you for the ARC, LibraryThing and Restless Books, of Kim Hye-jin's "Employee No.9"! This was a short yet scathing commentary on the harms perpetuated by big corporations and capitalism, as portrayed through the very micro-level view, life, and work of the man/Employee No. 9. Kim Hye-jin packed a great deal of character development and explorations of work and purpose into this short novel, ending it at the beginning of the main character's descent into a cycle of destruction and repetition.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Quiet desperation.
That is the cliche that came to mind when I finished this book.
Kim Hye-jin knows how to write a character, and the translation is also excellently done.
I often wonder if a book like this would hit the same for someone unfamiliar with Korean work culture.
more thoughts later~
That is the cliche that came to mind when I finished this book.
Kim Hye-jin knows how to write a character, and the translation is also excellently done.
I often wonder if a book like this would hit the same for someone unfamiliar with Korean work culture.
more thoughts later~
April 23, 2025
火车上看完了这本书，作为一个打工者，无法不引起共鸣。工作中有诸多困境，来自于业务，来自于人，来自于无奈，来自于故意，深陷困境，何去何从。我也如同书中的9号一样对工作、对公司、对领导、对同事有着乐观的希望，因为在职场的第一个十年感受到了快乐和成长，成就了我的职业底色。但是，当我逐渐感受到恶意，时不时感受到那种刺痛，我才开始反省，是不是待错了地方跟错了人。是的，也许希望和痛苦都是工作的本质，也是社会的本质，感谢作者，如她在关于女儿中温柔地展现生活和活着之痛般，再次向我揭示活着的痛苦和矛盾、生命价值选择的探讨。
November 19, 2023
工作占据了人生三分之一的时间，我们怎么可以不好好探讨这个课题呢？书里有一句话 ，看似简单但却很深奥，大概意思是工作是为了生活，不是活着为了工作。现实社会有多少人投入了多于三分之一的时间给予工作，又有多少人把公司视为一生荣耀。到最后他们都怎样了呢？工作中的我们很容易因外界的认可、荣誉、金钱等，忘记了工作与自己的关系。你最后一次审视自己身为工作者和你工作的关系是什么时候？
October 18, 2026
An enjoyable read? Not really, too relevant to today’s toxic corporate trap. Worth reading? Yes definitely.
October 22, 2026
My review of this timely, quiet, and intensely emotional novel is up in Asymptote.
https://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog...
https://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog...
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Employee No. 9 was a quick read but one that really stuck with me in its portrayal of working life for an employee in a large firm whose higher-ups are determinedly trying to oust him. Despite the company's best efforts, the man keeps hanging on, accepting demotions and pay cuts, impossible tasks and meaningless positions, all in an effort to continue with the work he's loved for years and to support his family. Naturally, there is a lot of social commentary in this work, but at its heart is the story of an individual trying to do his best despite the odds stacked against him. I am giving it 4.5 stars.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
May 23, 2022
Khi đã gắn bó với một nơi quá lâu, người ta trở nên không còn muốn thay đổi nữa. Miếng cơm manh áo chỉ là một trong số lý do, sự mất lòng tin vào chính mình, một nỗi sợ hãi mơ hồ hay đơn giản chỉ vì muốn tận mắt chứng kiến quyết định hắn đưa ra sẽ đi tới đâu… khiến hắn chẳng thể nào bỏ việc. Công việc làm biến chất con người dù ít dù nhiều nhưng rốt cuộc sâu xa vẫn là do chúng ta lựa chọn.
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