Product Description

'Anyone who has ever undergone the hell of call centre work will recognise the plight of Dan. Plugged in and 24/7, tied to the job for the money he needs but never receives, his paranoia mounts to the point where every waking moment becomes work. Shagging his boss and moving into the office was a bad idea, taking the cat with him was worse - but in a world of short-term contracts and job insecurity, you do what you can to survive. A brilliant picture of life stretched beyond the ordinary' Big Issue 'A gravity-defying performance...Eight Minutes Idle never lets on quite how smart it is' Lawrence Norfolk, Independent 'Matt Thorne: he'll disrupt your dull existence' Face

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #638522 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Nicholas Blincoe in THE OBSERVER on TOURIST
'Tells you everything you need to know about English seaside towns. Damn alien and exotic'

Boyd Tonkin in THE INDEPENDENT on TOURIST
'A memorable debut'

The Big Issue
'A brilliant picture of a life stretched beyond the ordinary'

Customer Reviews

Funny, Makes me paranoid about call centres
I haven't read anything else by Matt Thorne, and still don't know if I want to. I enjoyed '8 Minutes Idle', and found myself laughing aloud many times (the film with Nigel Havers and Andrew McCarthy does exist I discovered with research!). I now can't take it seriously if I have to phone help-lines because I am thinking about what the other person is doing whilst talking to me. I was disappointed with the end though, which was vague, and hurried. I felt like he had been given a word limit and was trying to cram the ending into as few words as possible. I recommend it if you want to laugh, but be prepared to be let down if you want a conclusion.

starts v well...but no ending
v enjoyable book till near the end when it just fizzles out. the ending is really poor and the author obviously got bored and couldn't be bothered to finish it properly. worth a read if you're bored but stick to more mainstream authors who actually deliver.

A good novel, understated and brilliantly funny.
Eight Minutes Idle plunges you into a rather comic frantic world of call centres, constantly ringing phones, clipboard carrying team leaders with targets and irrate customers on the end of phones speaking to staff who couldn't care less. The novel succeeds in entertaining you with series of funny mishaps that befall our main character. The pace of the book is uneven given that the beginning and middle are full of detail and told almost in slow motion...whereas the ending appears rushed and detail is sparse. However given the setting this structure mirrors the very topic it devotes itself too namely call centres...all calls start slow and as the chat proceeds so does the pace until before too long you are hurridly rushed off the phone....eight minutes idle is what it is and makes no apologies.