Night Work () is a 2006 novel by Austrian writer Thomas Glavinic. The book was translated into English in 2008 by John Brownjohn for Edinburgh-based publisher Canongate.
The novel, set in modern-day Vienna, is a post-apocalyptic exploration around themes of solitude and existential philosophy.
The plot concerns a central character, Jonas, who wakes up one day to discover that everyone else has vanished from the city, perhaps the world, without trace; he appears to be the only person left.
As he attempts to discover what could possibly explain such a situation, the days pass and he begins to realise that he is performing strange activities when asleep. A struggle ensues as Jonas tries to control his unconscious actions while he continues to search in vain for other human life.
The UK edition received a generally positive reception from critics. The Guardian referred to the book as being âÂÂat times genuinely horrificâ because of the authorâÂÂs skill in manipulating the âÂÂreader's constant anxiety that [he] won't, indeed can't, deliver a solution to his own mysteryâÂÂ. The Independent claimed that the novel, âÂÂfunctions both as an outstanding fictionalisation of Freud's essay The Uncanny, and as a superior literary thriller packed with invention and suspenseâÂÂ. The Scotland on Sunday said it was âÂÂstrong on intrigueâ and âÂÂseriously frighteningâÂÂ.