Set in a world shaped by language, it follows Vanja who is sent to the Amatka colony on a work assignment where she falls in love with her housemate.

Central themes of the novel include political oppression, limited freedom and deep conspiracies.

Despite her misgivings about Vanja's mission, Nina introduces the Essre resident to the departments in the colony so she could gather more information for her research.

As the days progress, however, Vanja meets specialists from different fields and is eventually led to discover that Amatka — along with the other colonies — may not be as it appears.

In addition to the original Swedish edition, published by Mix in 2012, the novel has been translated into multiple languages: Amatka was regarded as one of the best science fiction books of 2017 by The Guardian.