"Fascinating." — Financial Times " Best Books of 2025" "Hu Anyan’s straightforward prose and
keen eye for detail capture the drudgery of gruelling low-wage work and the personal toll it
takes." — The Economist " Best Books of 2025" "Hu Anyan’s I Deliver Parcels in Beijing
translated by Jack Hargreaves offers an unvarnished dispatch from the front lines of the gig
economy...The Cinderella bit of it is that now he can add a new title: internationally
best-selling author." — Leah Greenblatt The New York Times Book Review A runaway bestseller
in China sold in 20+ countries this delightfully honest and humorous account gives a face and
voice to the future of work—as if Nomadland met Nickel and Dimed. In 2023 I Deliver Parcels
in Beijing became the literary sensation of the year in China. Hu Anyan’s story about
short-term jobs in various anonymous megacities hit a nerve with a generation of young people
who feel at odds with an ever-growing pressure to perform and succeed. Hu started posting
essays about his experiences online during COVID lockdowns. His recollection of night shifts in
a huge logistics center in the south of China went viral: his nights were so hot that he could
drink three liters of water without taking a toilet break his days were spent searching for
affordable rooms with proper air-conditioning and his few moments of leisure were consumed by
calculations of the amount of alcohol needed to sleep but not feel drowsy a few hours later.
Hu Anyan tells us about brutal work where there is no real future in sight. But Hu is armed
with deadpan humor and a strong idea of self. He moves on when he feels stuck—from logistics in
the south to parcel delivery in Beijing to other impossible jobs. Along the way he turns to
reading and writing for strength and companionship. I Deliver Parcels in Beijing is an honest
and startling first-person portrait of Hu Anyan's struggle against the dehumanizing nature of
our contemporary global work system—and his discovery of the power of sharing a story.
