Wing Loading

30-year old Andreas is, on the face of things, a representative for the young and successful of Oslo in the year 2014. He belongs to a generation that has been told they can become whatever they want, choose what they want and do what they want. Andreas has also acquired everything he imagined that he would acquire ― he has his own flat, works in a reputable PR agency and lives with Hanna who works at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Still, something is wrong. He is not as happy as he should be.

When Andreas suffers an accident and is more or less randomly apprehended by the psychiatric health care services, he is quickly diagnosed with a mild psychological disorder. He is put on sick leave and he embraces the new lifestyle as an opportunity. Simultaneously, all of his interpersonal relationships are put to the test as he sets out to find “the answers”.

Helga Flatland’s latest novel is about the entitlement generation ― Norway’s “Me generation” ― and her depiction of the expectations of happiness and demands for self-realization of the current age is right on the money. And it is the narrator Andreas who in his mental distress is the voice of this generation.