Finalist for the Prix Hors Concours

“Timothée Demeillers writes about ‘the fatigue of the fed- up’, about what happens when you’ve had enough and more than enough.” — Libération

For 15 years, Erwan has been working in the cold room of a slaughterhouse, to the sound of carcasses bumping into each other as they pass through the assembly line. His is a life one among many, all linked to this assembly line that from slaughter to meatpacking supplies supermarkets with ground beef and kebabs.

Erwan thinks about the routine, the repetition of tasks, motions and discussions with his colleagues, the ever accelerating pace… He remembers his youth, his hopes, his romance with Laëtitia, a former slaughterhouse worker like him. But he also thinks about his anxiety attacks that seem to worsen year after year.

Jusqu’à la bête is the story of a young man made vulnerable by his work, a man who has reached the tipping point and whose life is about to derail completely.

Timothée Demeillers was born in 1984. He lives in Nantes. Being French and German, he speaks both languages fluently. His last novel Demain la brume, about the breakup of Yugoslavia, was published by Asphalte in 2020 and won the Prix Hors Concours.