Envy: Title: A tale of how nonentities envy worthy people | New Translation Kindle Edition

After a scandal in a tavern, twenty-seven-year-old loafer Nikolai Kavalerov falls asleep on a night street. He is picked up and put into a car by Andrei Babichev, the director of a food industry trust. Babichev brings the young man home, settles him in one of the rooms, and offers him simple work involving proofreading documents and selecting materials.Kavalerov observes his benefactor and grows increasingly irritated. Babichev creates a new type of sausage, invents names for chocolates, and builds a communal canteen (named The Quarter, with the plan that a meal there would cost 25 kopecks). Meanwhile, he is mentally and physically healthy, has an excellent appetite, and is generally a man in his prime. Consumed by contempt and envy for the director, Kavalerov tries to intrigue against Babichev and teams up with Andrei’s older brother, Ivan. Read more