Generation(s) superfluous.

Living precariously means to live without having control over your own life, being exposed and in the power of others (Haarder, Schwartz & Simonsen 2018: 188). In this article I compare the precarity that characterises both young and older persons, and I claim that they have in common the feeling of being superfluous. I explore short stories by Norwegian authors Jan Kristoffer Dale and Bjarte Breiteig with an emphasis on the following questions: what are the consequences of being superfluous and living precariously? And how is this challenge dealt with in literature and in life? I argue that problems connected to entering adult working life may generate the same issues as entering life as pensioner, since without a meaningful job, our prospect of a good and dignified life is weakened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]