Kings of Infinite Space: A Novel (Paperback)

~ (Author) "ONE BRUTALLY HOT SUMMER'S MORNING, Paul Trilby-ex-husband, temp typist, cat murderer-slouched sweating in his t-shirt on his way to work, waiting behind the wheel of..." (more)
Key Phrases: Bob Wier, Stanley Tulendij, Olivia Haddock (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Paul Trilby is still haunted by the ghost of Charlotte, the cat he drowned in "Queen of the Jungle" (included in Hynes's 1997 story collection, Publish and Perish), in this hilarious supernatural sendup of office life. An affair having destroyed his marriage and promising academic career, Paul now temps as a tech writer in the General Services Division of the Texas Department of General Services (TxDoGS) in the Austin-like city of Lamar. One hot summer morning, stuck in traffic, he has an encounter with a peculiar homeless man who repeats a question from H.G. Wells's Island of Doctor Moreau, "Are we not men?" This is but the first of a series of uncanny incidentsâ€"a corpse in a cubicle no one appears to notice, a recycling bin that seems to have no bottomâ€"that dog Paul at TxDoGS. The romance he strikes up with Callie, the appealingly goofy company "mail girl," provides the novel's emotional center. When the feckless Paul is put to the ultimate test, a Faustian bargain with zombies to surrender his soul and sacrifice Callie for a free ride at TxDoGS, readers will be on the edge of their seats wondering whether he'll do the right thing. Amusing incidentals include the subversive sentences Paul pens for a textbook and the cat-related fare that is all Charlotte allows him to watch on TV. While the office may not be quite as juicy a subject for satire as the academic world skewered in the author's last novel, The Lecturer's Tale (2002), the same literate wit should have wide appeal.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

According to Paul Trilby, there's something weird going on at the Texas Department of General Services, where he slaves away as the lowliest-of-lowly corporate workers, the office temp. Of course, Paul also thinks his apartment is haunted by the ghost of his ex-wife's cat, and that egg-headed aliens wearing pocket protectors are stalking his daily commute. Yes, ol' Paul's grasp on reality is none too secure, but that's understandable. Divorced, destitute, and driving a rattletrap clunker amidst a sea of sleek SUVs, Paul's down-and-out existence is a far cry from his former glory days as an up-and-coming university professor. Confronted by his smarmy co-workers (who are not above selling their souls for a better gig), Paul is introduced to a mysterious world of former employees, equally downtrodden middlemen downsized in state budget cuts. The only difference is--they're dead. In the best tradition of Baum, Carroll, and Orwell, Hynes crafts a mordantly incisive satire on a corporate America where incompetence is rewarded and talent ignored. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Picador (February 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312319665
• ISBN-13: 978-0312319663
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #226,896 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Office Space Spooky, June 10, 2004

By	Louis N. Gruber "Author of Jay" (Lexington, SC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Kings of Infinite Space: A Novel (Hardcover)

Paul Trilby has come a long way down, from a teaching position at a prestigious university to an office temp at the Texas Department of General Services. He has made every mistake in the book, and so he finds himself divorced, alone, barely making enough to live on, his life in shambles. Worse yet, he is haunted by Charlotte, the ghost of his ex-wife's cat, the cat he drowned because...well, it's complicated.

Well, cubicle hell is bad enough, but then strange things start happening. Strange pale men appear and disappear mysteriously. Strange post-it notes appear on Paul's computer. People know things about him they couldn't possibly know. Tiles in the ceiling move strangely, suggesting someone--or something--is up there watching.

Amusing as all this may be, it will soon get personal for Paul. He will be asked to make some terrible, serious decisions. Does he have what it takes? And is all this real? Or is Paul going psychotic? You will have to read the book to find out.

Author James Hynes is absolutely brilliant. His writing reflects his vast erudition without being the slightest bit pretentious. It flows along easily, and you find yourself unable to put the book down. At first it is humorous, but then it becomes alarming, enthralling, unvelievably suspenseful, as you race through the last hundred pages. I recommend this book highly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finest kind, says Kat from Readerville.com, April 15, 2004

By	KatPanama "katpanama" (Readerville) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kings of Infinite Space: A Novel (Hardcover)

I gulped down this book in a single afternoon, it's not just that good but that thigh-slapping funny. And, oddly or perhaps not, that useful in thinking about examined lives and such. Of course, Hynes, can write bloody well ... or bloody well write, whichever, but lordy knows he gives awfully good book and then some. This one, "Kings of Infinite Space," is finest kind and a worthy counterpart to his earlier "The Lecturer's Tale" which also made sore my laugh muscles.

Folk who have read Hynes' earlier novela trilogy ("Publish or Perish") might recognize a character or two, not all entirely human. Hynes reprises these and gives them a fullness of life that anyone would envy.

If this guy ever writes a sententiously serious novel, he'd be in great danger of earning one of those prestigious prizes -- you know, a Pulitzer or an NBCC or some such. Because everyone knows you can't write a marvelously FUNNY brilliant book and win squat. Or rather, squat is what such a brilliant book wins.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Humor meets the macabre., March 12, 2005

By	trainreader (Montclair, N.J.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kings of Infinite Space: A Novel (Hardcover)

Think Mike Judge's "Office Space" as being re-written by Stephen King, paying homage to "Night of the Living Dead." Throw in some H.G. Wells (the author frequently alludes to "The Island of Dr. Moreau," and the relationship between the Eloi and Mordocks in the "Time Machine") and add some steamy love scenes, and you can get an approximation of James Hyne's off-the-wall "Kings of a Infinite Space."

Paul Trilby, a failed professor with a troubling past (especially with women and a cat named Charlotte) finds himself as a temp at the Texas Department of General Services, with some of the wackiest co-workers you will ever meet. Along the way, he finds a fiery lover in Callie, the mail room girl. Almost right from the start, Paul notices that things are not quite what they seem. Paul attempts to distance himself from his unsettling surroundings, but gets increasingly drawn into it, especially by the bogus "Colonel" who, at one point, forces Paul to paticipate in a surrealistic Karaoke contest.

I felt that the author's frequent use of allegory was sometimes heavy handed, and the last portion of the book seemed too far over the top, as if Hynes were trying to convert a generally humorous novel into horror. However, Hynes is a fine writer who has created something truly unique (although Stephen King and Clive Barker, to name two, could probably have written a similar book). Therefore, I recommend "Kings of the Infinite Space," and suggest you hold on tightly for the ride.