Checking Out
The hilarious and unputdownable international bestseller
Published on 8. May 2025
Book
Hardback
320 pages
978-1-3997-3401-1 (ISBN)
Description
'So biting and refreshingly honest that the real world feels just a little more ridiculous by comparison'
Jinwoo Chong, author of Flux
'Honest, intelligent and funny'
Andrea Abreu, author of Dogs of Summer
Life is like a supermarket.
Her name is Meryem, but you'd be surprised at how difficult people find that to spell. Meryem is twenty-five years old and has just started working at the offices of Supersaurio: the most important supermarket chain in the Canary Islands. Watched over by the chain's benevolent blue dinosaur logo, Meryem contends with co-workers who don't mean to sound sexist, but aren't women just harder work than men?, a boss who seems determined to make Meryem's life as miserable as possible, and Omar - smart, funny, very-senior-but-nevertheless-seems-like-a-normal-person Omar, who also happens to be devastatingly handsome.
We follow Meryem as she makes the transition from intern, to temp, to arrive finally at the promised land of fixed employment - only to find that she might have left part of her soul behind.
'My relationship with this book has been a bit like the friendships you make in the bathrooms of nightclubs. Meryem, I don't know you but I love you as if you were my lifelong friend'
Goodreads reviewer, ? ? ? ? ?
'I want to meet Meryem for lunch'
Goodreads reviewer, ? ? ? ? ?
'Down with work'
Goodreads reviewer, ? ? ? ? ?
Jinwoo Chong, author of Flux
'Honest, intelligent and funny'
Andrea Abreu, author of Dogs of Summer
Life is like a supermarket.
Her name is Meryem, but you'd be surprised at how difficult people find that to spell. Meryem is twenty-five years old and has just started working at the offices of Supersaurio: the most important supermarket chain in the Canary Islands. Watched over by the chain's benevolent blue dinosaur logo, Meryem contends with co-workers who don't mean to sound sexist, but aren't women just harder work than men?, a boss who seems determined to make Meryem's life as miserable as possible, and Omar - smart, funny, very-senior-but-nevertheless-seems-like-a-normal-person Omar, who also happens to be devastatingly handsome.
We follow Meryem as she makes the transition from intern, to temp, to arrive finally at the promised land of fixed employment - only to find that she might have left part of her soul behind.
'My relationship with this book has been a bit like the friendships you make in the bathrooms of nightclubs. Meryem, I don't know you but I love you as if you were my lifelong friend'
Goodreads reviewer, ? ? ? ? ?
'I want to meet Meryem for lunch'
Goodreads reviewer, ? ? ? ? ?
'Down with work'
Goodreads reviewer, ? ? ? ? ?
Reviews / Votes
The bleakly hilarious Meryem El Mehdati's Checking Out renders a satire of youth, work, and ordinary life so biting and refreshingly honest that the real world feels just a little more ridiculous by comparison. I tore through this book -- Jinwoo Chong, author of <i>Flux</i>More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Hodder & Stoughton
Product notice
Trade binding
Illustrations
N/A
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 144 mm
Thickness: 31 mm
Weight
424 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-3997-3401-1 (9781399734011)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2025
Sceptre
€3.99
Available for download
Persons
Meryem El Mehdati (Rabat, 1991) studied Translation and Interpretation. She has been a private tutor, secretary, shop assistant, nanny, assistant director and internal comms specialist. Her debut novel Supersaurus was originally published in Spanish by Blackie Books in 2022. She has contributed to Vogue, SModa, La Provincia, El Salto and Igluu Magazine.