(Buy Yu Li – Confessions of an Elevator Operator on Amazon U.S. / Buy Yu Li – Confessions of an Elevator Operator on Amazon U.K.)
Jimmy Qi (齐天大) is the author of Yu Li: Confessions of an Elevator Operator, the hilarious story of a migrant worker who works as an elevator operator in a luxury apartment building as he struggles to understand city life. Jimmy’s intellectual wit and broad perspective has seen him compared to renowned twentieth century Chinese writers like Qian Zhongshu, Lin Yutang and Lao She. Time Out summarized Jimmy’s style as “Laugh-out-loud farce…but beneath the humour serious issues simmer.”
Jimmy’s diverse writer’s portfolio includes works on philosophy of art, and linguistics as well several novels which are notable for their humour. Fluent in English, Jimmy lived abroad for many years, before returning to mainland China to start a new career as a university teacher – he is currently doing research in literature at Beijing University. As a child during the Cultural Revolution, Jimmy accompanied his parents to a cadres reform camp. Later, he spent ten years in Canada, where, bored with his job, he started to write.
He calls himself “Monkey.” He can read a book a day, jot down a story by hand in two days, and he submits first drafts as final without caring to revise his stories. Jimmy Qi writes hilarious fiction in a satirical style. His titles are eye-catching and thought provoking: Trilogy of Toilets, A Dialogue With A Tiger and I love Beijing Public Transportation. On Thursday 22nd, the author presents the first English translation of “Yu Li – Confessions of an Elevator Operator” at The Bookworm so that we can finally know what this “monkey” is writing about.
Yu Li: Confessions of an Elevator Operator
“Hilarious fiction in a satirical style…The hilarious plot floats between nonsense and drama with hints of Kafka that trap the reader.” Global Times. October, 2009
“An uproarious tale…there seems to be a subtle critique of Chinese society running through the story.” The Beijinger. October, 2009
Yu Li, the title character of this unique, laugh-out-loud book, is an inspector at a fake wine distillery in a small town without any tall buildings in China’s Hebei province. After he is fired for drinking the wine during his inspections, Yu Li manages to land another job as an elevator operator in a luxury apartment building in the far-off capital,
Beijing.
The apartment building is home to the winners in the new China: celebrities, the new rich and big-shot officials. Misadventures abound as Yu Li struggles to adjust to the confusion of city life and, above all, fights to subdue the ‘nuclear weapon’ in his pants.
Prolific author Jimmy Qi’s work has been compared with early 20th century Chinese greats like Lu Xun and Lin Yutang. The story of Yu Li highlights the plight of China’s migrant workers, which has largely gone unremarked by China’s prospering middle classes.
Yu Li: Confessions of an Elevator Operator is an uproarious tale of China’s surplus labor by Beijing author Jimmy Qi. Yu Li (whose name literally means “extra manpower”) is a migrant worker transported from rural China to the lift of one of Beijing’s classiest apartment blocks, stuffed with celebrities and important officials. The responsibility of transporting these powerful men and alluring women from floor to floor is almost more than a country boy can handle, especially with a “nuclear weapon” in his pants ready to go off at any moment. Read more
Jimmy Qi uses his sardonic wit to lampoon China’s status-obsessed culture in this biting satire. The novella follows migrant worker Yu Li, who arrives in the big smoke from a small Hebei town to work as an elevator operator. Yu Li struggle with his new responsibilities in his important – and perilous – role; meanwhile the moneyed inhabitants of Building B, Gate A ride up and down in his elevator each day, oblivious to the man behind the lever. Read More