«Das Leben der Stellvertreter». Lesung von Hans Jürg Zinsli

What happens when career ambition, social pressure and personal longing collide? In his new novel "The Life of Deputies", Hans Jürg Zinsli paints a trenchant and socially critical picture of the noughties. The setting is a village between two valleys, where an oversized shopping centre becomes a symbol of consumption, pressure to perform and an increasingly merciless market logic – with small references to Graubünden.

At the center is the deputy manager of a fashion store. Between sales goals, career plans and personal relationships, he comes under increasing pressure. When he meets the daughter of a wealthy safe manufacturer, different worlds collide. The novel tells of work, class and love – and of the question of whether economic constraints and social boundaries can be overcome.

Hans Jürg Zinsli, born in Zurich in 1968 and raised in Chur, is an editor at "kulturtipp", a member of the Swiss Film Academy and winner of the Prix Pathé for film journalism.