DISCONTENT by Beatriz Serrano

Translated by Mara Faye Lethem

Zeitgeisty books give me hives. Seriously, my skin blisters at the mere mention of whatever trendy pulse is running through contemporary society. I’m also not the biggest fan of workplace novels (unless they are Ling Ma’s Severance). So it was with considerable trepidation, and a stack of antihistamines, that I picked up Beatriz Serrano’s very buzzy, very “now” book, Discontent.

Marisa is a young high-flyer in the world of advertising, surrounded by a cavalcade of awful, vacuous people. She lives alone, parties hard, shtups her upstair neighbour and tries to avoid her annoying family. She also kind of hates her job, especially in the lead up to the big office team-building retreat at which, it turns out, she will be the main attraction. As her anxiety mounts, she resorts to ever crazier schemes to pull off the big presentation. They all fail, leaving her with one last stunt - something so extreme, I just gasped. Then laughed. Hard.

Although it doesn’t quite stick the landing, Discontent is a hilariously audacious satire with a dark, dark heart. And, allergies be damned, I kind of loved it.

Discontent by Beatriz Serrano (Tr. Mara Faye Lethem)
Harvill, 2025
177 pages