Temporary

Hilary Leichter wrote Temporary, a comic novel about working as a temporary employee. This story is narrated by an unnamed female temporary worker who goes where her agency assigns her to go. One job is filling in for the Chairman on the Board of a major industry. She signs papers and makes decisions for him in his absence. During the time she is filling in for him he dies. She collects his ashes and wears some in a necklace around her neck. Every so often the necklace tingles and burns. This means the Chairman of the Board will appear to  her for a few minutes and discuss what has happened to her in the past days. She gets a new job organizing shoes for a wealthy woman who has hundreds of shoes. The employment agency assigns her to work on a pirate ship. She is thrown overboard. As she swims to shore other people try to enlist her to work with them as human barnacles. This bizarre story is sad and comic at the same time. All the poor narrator wants is a permanent job where she can feel needed and secure. She is a hard worker and she fulfills every reasonable request asked of her on the job. This surreal novel is thought provoking and interesting.