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Age discriminationEquality, diversity and inclusionRecruitment & retentionRetention of staff

Book review: Over the hill and back again

by Personnel Today 26 Jul 2006
by Personnel Today 26 Jul 2006

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Fat, Forty and Fired
The year I lost my job and found my life
Author Nigel Marsh
Price £7.99
From Piatkus Books
Contact www.piatkus.co.uk
ISBN 0-7499-2701-1

Buy this book at Amazon

There can only be a few of us who have not discovered our vocation in Andalucia or Provence while TV cameras roll in the background. It is fashion-ble to use a public forum to find a new life direction.

That said, cynicism nearly prevented me from reading this tale of a man who is forced, through redundancy, to embrace life outside the office and to reconnect with his family before going back to work on his own terms.

But I’m glad I persevered. The book works on two levels: it is humorous and honest and, as age discrimination legislation looms and forces employers to redefine working patterns, it is very timely.

Marsh is a symbol for the ‘noughties’ as he returns to work from a year in the redundancy wilderness, as Shakespeare wrote: “a humbler and a wiser man”.

He doesn’t set up an alternative lifestyle among lemon groves or spiritual gurus. He copes with redundancy in Australia, the fringes of alcohol dependency and visits to his elderly father in the UK, before admitting that his role at work defines who he is. Financial reasons push him back onto the corporate hamster-wheel â€“ a truth that refreshes a clich-ridden genre.

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This book is worth the price as a leisure read or discussion document to prompt thoughts about new ways to live, work and think.

BOXTEXT: Useful? 5 out of 5
Well-written? 4 out of 5
Value for money? 5 out of 5

Buy this book at Amazon


Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

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