Try Your Luck! By Peter Rosei, Translated by Kathleen Thorpe

Try Your Luck! portrays the psychological effects of unemployment. The nameless protagonist experiences typical symptoms — lack of focus, inability to concentrate, anxiety, and a devastating loss of self-esteem, resulting from feelings of superfluity in a society only valuing the economically active.

The nameless unemployed protagonist is marginalized by a society in which only the economically active achieve recognition. A relationship with a woman initially assuages his loneliness, but places him under increased pressure to become a provider. Lacking a sense of initiative and demoralized by fruitless visits to the Unemployment Office, he turns to prostitution to earn the cash to rejoin the mainstream of society.