Like all good writers, Hu Anyan lets the particular illuminate the universal. In his new collection, I Deliver Parcels in Beijing, he sidesteps sweeping pronouncements about his work in logistics, transportation, and other odd jobs in China’s urban centers. Instead he relates the small moments that defined his days — flashes of frustration with customers, rivalries with coworkers, and the ways his work rhythms spilled into his personal life. The result is an insightful, relatable, and often humorous account of working life in twenty-first-century China.

For all the similarities between Hu’s work frustrations and those of Americans, however, there are stark contrasts between the two national contexts that the following interview with the author highlights. Chinese working conditions are, by American standards, often excessively grueling and precarious. But they are widely tolerated against the backdrop of rising living standards brought about by rapid industrialization. And when the conversation turns to unions, the concept seems so alien that the exchange takes on a comic air. As relatable as Hu’s writing is, it also points to marked differences in context that indicate the difficulty of international working-class solidarity.