Taximator / Terror U.M.A.
R., Thomas: Taximator / Terror U.M.A.To be stressed in this line of work is like making a pact with the devil. You get tired, numb. The lack of feeling becomes the feeling.
Taximator / Terror U.M.A. counts down from chapter ten to one while the protagonist drives his taxi in Bergen and works in a psychiatric care unit. He suffers from insomnia, and his real life as a taxi driver and his fantasies intertwine, his fate merging with scenes from movies, Hollywood baroque and personally angled descriptions of accidents and disasters.
I am the taximan. They call me the taximan.
Taximan, is that Troldhaugen over there?
Taximan, for how long have you been a taxi driver?
Taximan, how far is it from the city centre of Bergen to Flesland airport?
Praise for TAXIMATOR / TERROR U.M.A.:
“The ten chapters this stirring novel consists of are numbered backwards from 10 to 1. That is an efficient countdown of both the novel, the main character and a world which is about to explode … It would make a spectacular film … I have still only scraped the surface of this wonderful debut. Whereas the narrator in an unclear way quits his job, ‘Thomas R.’ will hopefully continue writing.”
(Stavanger Aftenblad)
”an acerbic commentary to a numb society where the media’s presentation of disasters actually work as entertainment … a debut I will remember.”
(Aftenposten)
“disturbing and well written”
(Dagbladet)
First published: 2009, Oktober
Thomas R.: Biography and bibliography
