The Employees advertises itself as "a workplace novel of the 22nd century." The workplace in question is the space vessel Six Thousand Ship, in orbit around a planet far from Earth named New Discovery. The crew consists of humans and humanoid members, both of whom react strangely to a collection of enigmatic objects taken from the surface of New Discovery. The story is told as a series of short interviews with crew members.
It's an experimental narrative that doesn't quite work but doesn't quite fail either. There are several intriguing things about it: the emphasis on the scent of the mysterious objects, the interpersonal dynamics between the humans and humanoids, the role of memories in our lives, what it means to be human. I felt like the objects were attempting to communicate with the crew in a way they didn't understand, like the planet in Solaris. Ultimately, though, I found it all too abstract. I couldn't follow exactly what happened on the ship nor how much of the conflict derived from the objects.
I learned after reading The Employees that the book was originally inspired as a companion to an art installation. It does have the chilly vibe of an art project.
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