Nordic Watchlist reviews The Winter Job by Antti Tuomainen
The classic road trip has been a staple plot line for decades – two or more protagonists confined inside a vehicle, ultimately discovering more than they expected about each other. In Antti Tuomainen’s The Winter Job, however, the road trip is given Tuomainen’s signature darkly comedic twist.
When postal worker Ilmari Nieminen needs extra cash to buy his daughter a piano for Christmas, he jumps at the chance of a delivery job. This isn’t a case of delivering a late Christmas card or present – instead, he’s tasked with transporting a sofa from Helsinki to Kilpisjärvi in northern Finland, on the Swedish and Norwegian borders.
It’s a journey of over 1,200 km, but Nieminen intends to make it even longer by taking a couple of detours along the way. The detours don’t seem to bother his client, though the clock is ticking – both for the delivery of the sofa and, with Christmas Eve just six days away, the window to buy the piano is closing fast.
Setting off in an ageing light-blue Thames van, the sofa lodged in the back with the doors tied with string, Nieminen’s journey north already has a comedic air – but things are about to take an even darker turn.
Picking up a hitchhiker at a gas station – who turns out to be a childhood friend – provides the catalyst for the traditional journey of self-discovery so loved by road-trip writers. But when the pair realise they’re being trailed by not one but two different vehicles, it becomes clear the sofa may not be all it first seems.
Tuomainen’s previous works have showcased his dark humour, and with the entire frozen length of Finland as his canvas, he wastes no time deploying that wit. Even before the journey begins, placing the protagonist in a conspicuous, decrepit vehicle lets the reader know to expect mayhem on the road.
That mayhem doesn’t take long to unfold. Set in another era, this could easily have been a Keystone Cops film from the 1910s – swerving cars, flying furniture, gun chases – all elements Tuomainen plays with, knowing readers will recognise the tropes but enjoy his contemporary twist.
For dark humour to work on the page, there must be pathos and pain underpinning the slapstick. The Winter Job is perhaps more reflective than Tuomainen’s earlier works, but that darkness is handled with a deft touch.
Antero Kuikka – the childhood friend turned hitchhiker – not only prompts Nieminen to open up about his own troubles – his divorce, strained relationship with his ex-wife, hopes for his daughter, and unhappiness at work – but also brings a complex backstory of his own.
While much pivots on the relationship between Nieminen and Antero, Tuomainen doesn’t neglect the supporting cast. With two vehicles chasing the sofa-laden van, we end up with a triptych of road-trip narratives, each populated by increasingly bizarre characters.
Tuomainen’s skill lies in taking the everyday – outwardly mundane – and peppering it with just enough absurdity to keep it believable. Readers may not have first-hand experience of driving a past-its-best truck through blizzards while being pursued by competing criminal factions, but through the detail, character study, and pathos mixed with humour, we can instantly relate to Nieminen and the pressure he’s under.
With other books already adapted for the screen, Tuomainen has proven that his work translates easily to other formats – and his highly visual writing style in The Winter Job could easily follow suit.
As the nights draw in, The Winter Job and its darkly comic tale set on Finland’s wintry roads will have readers glued to their own sofas, eager to discover how this unconventional road trip ends.
The Winter Job by Antti Tuomainen, translated by David Hackston, is published by Orenda Books.
