Munir Hachemi is one of the most promising Spanish writers and has been named one of Granta’s best young Spanish-language novelists. Living Things, first published in Spain in 2018, is now out in the UK, courtesy of Fitzcarraldo Editions and a translation by Julia Sanches.  

Categorisable as autofiction, it tells the story of Munir himself, plus his three friends Alejandro, G and Ernesto – who collectively decide to move and work in France for one summer, hoping to gain experience which they can eventually transmute into their literary work.

Upon arriving in the south of France the young men find a job through the work agency picking grapes. Unfortunately, the bad weather means that the harvest has been cancelled, and the agency sends them off to get their hands dirty at a variety of other jobs such as working in factories and processing animals. 

Living Things is a striking first novel, leaving the reader with an eerie, uneasy feeling – not quite disgust, but certainly approaching it. It speaks to the class divide, the pompousness of trying to follow in the literary footsteps of one’s heroes and bleakness of everyday reality.