In Sweden, the narrator receives a large bill for over five million kronor. Assuming it is a mistake he goes about his life, working in a video store. Eventually he receives more bills and hears people on the street discussing large bills as well. He calls the information telephone number to inquire about the number and is told that it is not a mistake and that he owes the money for all of his experienced happiness (E.H.). The big brother-esque company, World Resources Distribution (WRD), has announced that it is time for people to pay for their experiences. Based on a series of factors, people are given a one-time bill. After all of the money is collected, it will then be redistributed to those in the world who received negative E.H. numbers.
The narrator goes into the WRD headquarters to contest the number, as he feels his life doesn’t justify such and amount. While there, the company discovers that it did in fact make an error, and instead he owes over ten million kronor, as he is such a happy person. He begins taking on the phone to one of the operators, Maud, and he questions why the amount is so large. She berates him for not appreciating how happy he really is. The two become close and over the course of their discussions he mentions an old girlfriend, and love of his life, Sunita. Maud is alarmed that the company didn’t know about her existence, as they seemed to know everything else about him. She thinks that the heart break might lower his amount so he returns to the company.
When the numbers are reexamined, the narrator’s bill increases yet again. The company is shocked that anyone could be so happy, and say that it is unprecedented. He has no way to pay and normally in such situations the company would have to deprive such a person of any further experiences, by isolating them, but note that this would make no difference in the case of the narrator as he is able to find the good in almost any situation. The company agrees to freeze his bill, on the condition that he not tell anyone.
Later, the narrator realizes that he also increases the E.H., and subsequently the bill, of those closest to him as he is infectious. He realizes that he does have a good life and looks forward to getting to know Maud more.
I was underwhelmed by this short, literary novel that questions the true meaning of happiness in a very surreal way. The narrator discovers that people must pay for their experienced happiness and learns that his bill is enormous. He is a truly happy person, which seems to baffle the company. I was initially intrigued by the idea but the entire course of the story revolves around the narrator trying to lower his debt, and finally realizing that he is happy. The narrative focuses on the meaning behind true happiness and questions society’s definition of the concept.
Even though the story is very short, the middle seems to get a little monotonous. I think that the idea of paying for happiness is intriguing but I would have liked to see the story flushed out a bit more.