Global migration flows in the 21st century have cast old debates about the complicated relationship between work, integration, and the nation-state into new light. Literary texts in particular provide a medium for the critique of state policies and social discourses, often by articulating a criticism of the treatment of asylum seekers in relation to the central values which those societies allege to follow. Considering Elfriede Jelinek’s 2013 Die Schutzbefohlenen , Jenny Erpenbeck’s 2015 Gehen, ging, gegangen , and Abbas Khider’s 2016 Ohrfeige , this paper provides some insight into the intricate relationship between work and refugee status. Specifically, it looks at how lack of access to the labour market affects feelings of space, time, integration, and belonging for migrants, and how these representations can critique the system of which the character is made a subject.