As our “Christmas book”, for the last book club of the year we have chosen “Das Glücksbüro” (The Happiness Office) by Andreas Izquierdo.
Albert Glück, a bit of an odd chap in his early fifties, has been a public servant at the ‘Office of Administrative Affairs’ for more than thirty years. His ordered life passes in a satisfyingly predictable succession of forms, regulations, binders and stamps. Not only does he work in the office building, but – unbeknownst to his colleagues – he also lives in the basement and eats in the cafeteria there.
The one day a file turns up on his desk which changes everything: a petition which does not seem to be petitioning for anything and is therefore completely unclassifiable. Horrified, Glück tries to get rid of the dreaded thing but, as if by magic, the piece of paper just keeps showing up again. Eventually he is forced into the unthinkable step of leaving the office, the first time in years that he has been out in the real world. Once there, he meets Anna Segus who threatens to turn his world upside down…
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