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About the author
Kim Hye-jin is one of the most prominent voices in contemporary Korean literature whose work has been translated worldwide. She is the author of four story collections and the novels Central Station, Concerning My Daughter, Counsel Culture, and What Is Hers. Her work has received numerous awards including the Shin Dong-yup Prize for Literature, the Daesan Literary Award, the Kim Yujeong Literary Award, and the 4th Lee Hochul Literary Prize for Peace.
About the translator
Jamie Chang is a literary translator. Her translation of Cho Nam-joo’s Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 was longlisted for the 2020 National Book Award for Translated Literature. She is the recipient of the Daesan Foundation Translation Grant and a three-time recipient of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea grant. She lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Book Details
Paperback ISBN: 9781632064271 • $18.00
eBook ISBN: 9781632064288
Publication date: October 20, 2026
5" x 7.125" • 208 pages
This book is published with the support of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea).
Praise
“Kim Hye-jin calmly and methodically describes how an ordinary, hard-working person gets pushed to the margins of society. This is what exploitation looks like today under capitalism and anyone with a job will empathize. In terms of corporate greed, we are no longer employees but expenses to be written off.”
— Bora Chung, author of Cursed Bunny and Your Utopia
“Employee No. 9 is unflinching in its raw depiction of the way capitalism can shrink a life down to an endless parade of small humiliations. With writing as unrelenting and controlled as the invisible company at the center of this novel, Kim shows the horror of living in a broken world that forces us to choose the false promise of agency over our dignity. I couldn’t look away.”
— Ling Ling Huang, author of Immaculate Conception and Natural Beauty
“Kim Hye-jin’s deft and unsparing portrayal of late-stage capitalism in Korea takes on an almost Beckettian flair in its exploration of the decent, unremarkable man caught in the gears of the machine with seemingly no way out.”
— Marie Myung-Ok Lee, author of Somebody’s Daughter and The Evening Hero
"Kim’s all-too-realistic third import, succinctly translated from the 2019 Korean original by National Book Award longlisted Chang, chillingly confronts another pressing contemporary issue: the dehumanizing reality of an aging workforce desperately holding on to jobs at the cost of familial obligations, health, and even basic dignity."
— Terry Hong, Booklist
“Author Kim Hye-jin and translator Jamie Chang bring an extraordinary work of literature in Employee No. 9. A portrait of labor, identity, and desperation in modern corporate life, the novel explores a world shaped by inequality and the erosion of workers’ rights. Employee No. 9 captures a growing global unease surrounding labor and survival while remaining deeply rooted in the realities of contemporary Korean society.”
— E. J. Koh, author of The Liberators and The Magical Language of Others
“A searing critique of the workplace culture in an ultra-modern society like South Korea, where the race for higher profits trumps human dignity. Its powerful narrative reverberates long after the last page.”
— Wondra Chang, author of Sonju, nominated for the National Book Award
"With the upswell of new political ideas surfacing around the world, Employee No. 9 is not only a relevant story, but a compelling one. In Korea, a man's financial life is falling apart. Family needs (college, surgery, secure home) are all clawing at him for solutions. And then the company he helped build is pushing him out. Sound familiar? Kim Hye-jin is a well-respected author whose work is published worldwide, garnering numerous literary prizes. Translator Jamie Chang has rendered the text with clarity, serving to make sure the nuances and textual beauty are not missed. I welcome everyone who cares about human existence to turn to Employee No. 9 for inspiration and guidance in their efforts to help bring humanity and justice to all our lives."
— Linda Bond, Auntie's Bookstore
“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.”
— Nicki J. Markus via Goodreads
By Kim Hye-jin
Translated from the Korean by Jamie Chang
Winner of the 2020 Daesan Literary Award
With shades of Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice and Choi Jin-young’s Hunger, Employee No. 9 runs a psychological gauntlet of money, power, personal responsibility, and the daily struggle for survival.
No. 9 is in trouble. His son’s college tuition is coming due, his wife needs surgery after taking double shifts at a grocery store, the apartment building they bought as a nest egg is falling apart, and the company he helped build is trying to force him into early retirement. When he refuses, the mid-level IT man is demoted to sales and given increasingly impossible tasks. As his salary dwindles and the humiliations mount, No. 9 must decide where his loyalties lie. If he fights back, how far will the company go to stop him?
With her urgent and timely novel, award-winning Korean author Kim Hye-jin questions how long we can endure a broken system. In a rigged game, is there an alternative to playing out your hand?