The Scheme For Full Employment (2004) - Plot & Excerpts
I first ran across this book in Waterstones years ago, liked the look of it but made the mistake of not buying it there and then and promptly forgot the name of the book and its author and it was only by pure chance—you do realise how many books there are out there—I ran across it again and this time did not waver. I mention this to somewhat excuse my less than enthusiastic review of this book; had I not been looking forward to reading it so much I might not have been as disappointed by what I encountered. This is not to suggest that this is a bad book because it’s not. From what I’ve read it’s not the best book Mills has written and others have been less than enthusiastic in their praise because it did not live up to their expectations as well. What can a poor writer do?The thing is there was a lot I did like about this book: I liked the premise—a self-sustaining scheme is devised for ensuring that everyone in the country is gainfully employed—and I liked the style which has been described as ‘deadpan’ and I can live with that—the voice certainly suits the material which is (and is meant to be) a bit on the boring side. As a guy who loves the writing of Samuel Beckett a writer would have to work really hard to actually bore me although I can see why some readers—again probably expecting something with a bit more oomph—might have found this a bit of a slog. As a satire this works a treat although the satire nibbles rather than bites if I’m being honest. The whole thing had a very Fifties feel (or at least what I imagine life might’ve been like in Britain in the Fifties), excessively bureaucratic and very male-centric; there’s only one woman in the whole book and she has a very small role (one other is talked about by name and there are a few nameless females mentioned in passing). Of course it’s never made clear when the action in this book takes place or even where. I’m assuming Britain because as the book puts it:Of course, if this had been any other country The Scheme would still be going today. In any other country it would have been regarded as a national treasure, with the entire workforce striving to maintain the high standards and principles on which it was established. […] Planned to the finest detail by people of vision, The Scheme was watertight, and could not possibly go wrong. Except in this country. In this country we managed to destroy it.That just feels so British.If there was a 3½-star option I’d’ve probably gone with that. Had I not built my hopes up I might’ve gone with 4 stars. I’m not a big fan of stars anyway; they so subjective. It is worth a read. It’s certainly a quick read—I polished it off in two days—and won’t tax you.
I read "The Restraint of Beasts" some years ago and really loved it, and I liked "The Maintenance of Headway" too, so when I picked up a copy of "The Scheme for Full Employment" at a 2nd-hand bookstall I fully expected to be in for more of the same.I suppose I was, sort of. "The Scheme" is hard not to like - it's amusing and easy to read, and I read most of it in a couple of 2 hr sessions, but I think that it fails to build on the basic brilliant idea. The un-named narrator is a van driver, employed to drive round in his Uni Van to the various Uni Van depots, collecting and delivering spares for other Uni Vans, in a self-perpetuating cycle. As a satire, it pokes gentle fun at the workplace, the futility of much mundane toil, petty bureaucracy, and the rivalries between the ordinary workers and their bosses. Anyone who has ever worked for a big company, or has ever been employed doing a job that could be done in half its allotted time, will know exactly where the author is coming from. When a dispute over early clocking-off leads to an all-out strike, the edifice of the whole scheme comes tumbling down. And that's about it really.The dispute is the novel's decisive moment but it comes too late in the story, preceded by too much rambling about the work rotas and van routes, and then it is all wrapped up too quickly. The result is that it is hard to engage with the story, and the characters do not help. There are far too many of them - drivers, assistants, warehousemen, superintendents, etc, etc - and most of them are not clearly defined; in fact many are little more than names. This could have been made into a deliberate part of the plot - identical characters driving round in identical vans - but instead it just becomes a serious failing. The only character who really comes alive is George, the narrator's assistant, whose only concern is to fit work around his deliveries of home-made cakes to the various depots and other unscheduled stops.So, a good try. It's a readable, funny book but way below the standard of "The Restraint of Beasts".
What do You think about The Scheme For Full Employment (2004)?
I remember reading "The Restraint of Beasts" when it first came out, loving it and looking for more by Magnus Mills but not not finding anything, and then forgetting about him completely. Shame on me! I was missing out on "The Scheme for Full Employment", which I can only describe as mildly rib-tickling; it's hugely funny, but never in a way that actually makes you laugh out loud. The complexities of "The Scheme" -- a make-work project in which Univan drivers carry loads of Univan parts to Univan depots in a never-ending round of pointless fuel consumption -- are described in perfectly paced detail and without any irony on the part of the happily employed narrator. It's a bubble that has to burst eventually, and when a minor industrial dispute escalates to a full-scale strike, it's the fact that the lack of Univan activity has zero impact on the national economy that finally unmasks the futility of the whole enterprise. A brilliant but gently tongue-in-cheek critique of command economies. And now that I've rediscovered him, I've the rest of Mr Mill's works to look forward to.
—Alison Lang
I love this novel. I read it as a satirical allegory of New Labour and any other political movement promulgating the Fabian ideal of a society in which the workers are citizens (or, 'participants', in this novel) whose interests are catered for by the State. Some familiarity with Brave New World, Nineteen Eighty-Four and We would enrich a reading of this novel. It parodies traditionally heroic portrayals of the working class man up against the State, and parodies traditional notions of masculinity. His other novels are also very good. Some friends of mine have reported that they found All Quiet on the Orient Express boring. I find this difficult to imagine, but then I love all the lo-fi satire...
—Simone
Please note: I read this some years back so don't remember it clearly.Synopsis: The whole idea is simple yet so perfect: men drive to and from strategically placed warehouses in Univans—identical and serviceable vehicles—transporting replacement parts for...Univans. Gloriously self-perpetuating, the Scheme was designed to give an honest day’s wage for an honest day’s labor. That it produces nothing does not obtain. Our hero in Magnus Mills’ mesmerizing new work is a five-year veteran of the Scheme: he knows the best routes, the easiest managers, the quickest ways in and out. Inevitably, trouble begins to brew. A woman arrives on the scene. Some workers develop delivery sidelines. And most disturbing of all, not all participants are in agreement. There are “Flat-Dayers,” who believe the Scheme’s eight-hour day is sacrosanct and inviolable, and there are “Swervers,” who fancy being let off a little early now and again. Disagreement turns to argument, argument to debate, debate to outright schism. Soon the Flat-Dayers and Swervers have pushed the Scheme to the very brink of disaster...and readers to the edge of their chairs in delight.My Thoughts: This is another book, like The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break, that I bought randomly using a gift certificate, and was glad I had done so. Many people complain that this book is "pointless" and "boring," but anyone who has been underemployed will, I think, "get it". This is satire, of course, so your mileage may vary, but I quite enjoyed it.
—Katy
