The Temps, Keylight Books

They're underemployed. Underpaid. And trying to survive the end of the world while trapped inside an office complex. Who knew temp work could be this dangerous? 

Jacob Elliot doesn’t want a temporary job in the mailroom at Delphi Enterprises, but after two post-college years of unpaid internships and living in his parents’ basement, he needs the work. Then, on his first day, the unthinkable happens: toxic gas descends on a meeting in Delphi’s outdoor amphitheater, killing all the regular employees and leaving Jacob stranded inside the vast office complex. 

Wandering through Delphi headquarters, Jacob finds other survivors: Lauren, the disillusioned classics major who’s now writing online personality quizzes; Swati, the fitness instructor trying to escape a toxic relationship; and Dominic, the business school student who will do almost anything to get ahead. Stranded in the wreckage of the company that employed them, the temps band together to create a miniature world that’s part spring break, part office culture―until a shocking discovery disrupts the survivors’ self-made paradise and drives them to uncover the truth about the mysterious corporation that employed them and the apocalypse that brought their world to an end. 

A surprising, profound tribute to the absurdities and paranoia of modern life, The Temps is an epic exploration of survival and human connection in the digital age.

Praise for The Temps:

“This boiling-pot of a novel is a vivid experiment in millennial disillusionment...Simultaneously a dark dystopic and a hilarious tale of bureaucratic absurdity, The Temps is bizarre—and unexpectedly fun.” —Booklist (starred review)

“A smart critique of modern life.” —Publishers Weekly

“The Temps is a dystopian page-turner, but also a statement on our digital world, corporate culture, and the politics of capitalism.” —Laurie Hertzel, Star Tribune

“The Temps is an allegorical yarn about the modern workplace, with a dash of The Walking Dead and Don DeLillo's White Noise tossed in. It fits well on the ever-growing shelf of novels that similarly critique corporate conformity, like Ling Ma's Severance and Dave Eggers' The Circle.” —Mark Athitakis, Star Tribune

“Equal parts satire, mystery, and apocalyptic thriller, The Temps lulls readers with breezy prose and absurdist humor before yanking the rug out with a series of shocking twists. Vividly sketched characters and a kaleidoscopic third-person narrative add depth and warmth, resulting in an enthralling story that tempers cynicism with hope.” —Mystery Scene Magazine

”A fun, wild ride…With its commentary on worker exploitation and the subtle class systems our supposed meritocracy enforces, this is a thinking person’s apocalypse.” —Napa Valley Register

“DeYoung has taken a familiar end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it theme and made it something uniquely his own. Readers won't soon forget it.” —New York Journal of Books

“Andrew DeYoung's The Temps is a comic adventure for our uncertain times, a mashup of Then We Came to the End and World War Z. The result is a surprisingly funny and heartfelt satire of modern employment that should please fans of literary and speculative fiction alike.” –Adam O’Fallon Price, author of The Hotel Neversink

"The Temps is equal parts dark satire, probing character study, and fast-paced thriller. DeYoung’s mesmerizing writing is by turns wry, muscular, and probing. This is an apocalyptic page-turner that asks profound questions about human nature, about who we are and who we have the potential to become. DeYoung’s vision is both vibrant and prophetic; I couldn’t put this novel down." –Kaethe Schwehn, author of The Rending and the Nest

“The Temps is a unique take on both the corporate conspiracy plot and the zombie-apocalypse thriller. It's fast-paced, darkly funny, and full of unexpected turns. It also holds incisive and illuminating social commentary, providing windows of insight amidst the heart-pounding action.” —Elvia Wilk, author of Oval

“Part Great American Office Novel and part apocalyptic thriller, The Temps taps into the search for meaning post-college and combines it with the sharp urgency of the best dystopian fiction. With wry observations about corporate life and careful attention to the delicate intricacies of human relationships, DeYoung reminds us that the only thing worse than a meaningless temp job is a meaningless temp job during the end of the world." –Bryan Bliss, National Book Award Longlisted author of We’ll Fly Away

“Andrew DeYoung is a sage storyteller with the incredibly rare gift of being able to write with both poignancy and wit. The Temps is both terrifying and hilarious -- it absolutely deserves a high-paying full-time job with excellent benefits." –John Jodzio, Author of Knockout and If You Lived Here You'd Already Be Home

"What The Temps profoundly illustrates is that the most gripping science fiction doesn't emerge from the unknown, but from what we know all too well and choose to look away from. That we choose to look away at our own peril is what makes The Temps impossible to put down.” –Ben Tanzer, Author of Orphans, UPSTATE, and Lost in Space

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