ABOUT
THE BOOK

The whole concept is so simple yet so perfect: men drive to and from strategically paced warehouses in Univans – identical and very serviceable vehicles – transporting replacement parts for ….Univans. Gloriously self-perpetuating, the Scheme for Full Employment (or “Scheme” for short) is more than social engineering: it is the unified field theory of the modern working world. And what greater good can there be than honest wages for honest labour?
Or so thinks our hero, a five-year veteran of the Scheme, and a contented man. The joy of work lies in just the right balance of routine and surprise. This balance, however, turns out to be more fragile than he could have imagined. A woman arrives on the scene. Some colleagues develop delivery sidelines for extra income. And, most disturbing of all, trouble is beginning to brew between those who believe the Scheme’s eight-hour shift sacrosanct and inviolable, and those who fancy being let off a little early now and again (where’s the harm?). Disagreement turns to argument, argument to debate, debate to outright schism. Can the Scheme survive?