ian Carpenter was a 34-year-old property manager in Basildon when he found himself facing redundancy. Most people would react to that by deciding to apply for a new job. Carpenter isn't like most people. He was looking at the recruitment pullout of the Guardian newspaper, and wondered: why don't I apply for every job here? So that's what he did, and along the way broadened his scope by applying to be the English football manager and head of the Liberal Democrats. The correspondence which ensued is both hilarious and fascinating, revealing the comic underbelly of the recruitment process.

It took Ian Carpenter six months to apply for every job in that one issue of the Guardian. In the end, he didn't get a job - not even an offer. So he decided to do what any sensible person would do in that situation - he has set up a second hand bookshop in Southend, from where he is continuing his absurd campaign to find a job. He is a genuinely funny and highly ridiculous man.

See Ian's blog at http://guardianwork.blogspot.com/.

Details

• ISBN 9781905636662
• Published 4th June 2009
• Size: Paperback
• Pages: 352
• RRP: £7.99

Rights information

• World rights