We all know how it works: first you go to School, then you go to University, and then you enter Real Life. And that''s the important bit. Real Life is about achievement, recognition, choices. It''s about a boss who trusts you, a wardrobe that suits you, friends who support you and a relationship that fulfils you. It`s a mobile phone, an expense account, a company car and a place to park it. Happily Ever After.

Unforunately, Real Life isn''t working that way for The Temp. She''s managed the university bit, but the job, the dough and the happily-ever-after seem harder than anybody ever told her. Living in Stockwell while she moves through a series of jobs ranging from the horrifying mindless to the bemusingly witless to the simply extraordinary, she realises that something isn''t right.

Who cares about a boss who trusts you? She''d settle for a boss who knows her name. This can''t be Real Life, can it?

Building on the success of her INDEPENDENT column, Serena Mackesy has created a wonderfully witty, acerbic exposé of office anthropology and a genuinely moving story about the early-twenties doldrums.