Subs 2011: Foreign Rights
The German answer to Bret Easton Ellis
and Michel Houellebecq
Evelyn, a prominent lawyer and her husband Claus, a successful plastic surgeon enjoy a carefree life in their swanky villa in one of the richest neighborhoods of Berlin. Their daily routine is turned upside down when their Polish maid disappears without a trace. Claus quickly places an ad in the newspaper: “Cultivated couple with the first hint of laugh lines seek reliable slave with energy and power! Do you see yourself ironing to the sound of classical music, running small errands, and unwinding afterward in our private sauna? If so, then you have found the right place with us!”
When it is answered by all sorts of people, not only ones in the S&M scene, but also by people who haven’t had a job for years, asylum-seekers, and over-qualified academics, all seriously wanting the position as slave, Claus and Evelyn are surprised and shocked. But then…why should they do without…? They have the money, and in the liberally-minded fun-society in the german capitol you are allowed to have what you can afford.
When Claus decides on the classicist Bartos and his wife Lana, he has no idea how quickly he will become dependent on his “Subs.” More voluntary slaves keep moving onto the property, and the group life, doing like the Romans did, keeps them content for quite awhile, until one day there is a break-in. When the burglar is caught, Claus and Lana must decide if they should take justice into their own hands…
Thor Kunkel was born in 1963, studied art and lived
for many years in London and Amsterdam. He was
the 1999 winner of the Ernst Willner Prize at the
Ingeborg Bachmann Competition. His debut,
Blacklight Terra was followed by Final Stage, a
novel about the porn film industry in the Third Reich,
which set off of a controversial debate among
literature experts. This was followed by more novels,
and he has also published a number of bestselling audio
plays.