[2] Kim Wonu made his literary debut in 1977 with the novella Appointed Posts (Imji), a scathing critique of the philistinism and commodity fetishism that he saw as pervasive in middle-class Korean society.
Everyday lives of middle-class Koreans in all its unabashed materialism and self-interest, is an abiding concern in the entire body of Kim Wonu's fiction.
His characters possess little or no individual personality, and can only find meaning in their lives through the ceaseless pursuit of profit.
Because they are so entrenched in immediate material gratification, they fail to realize the sterility of their lives; Kim Wonu, therefore, frequently employs an outside agent to act as a mediator in his fiction.
Combined effectively with meticulous, insightful descriptions of ordinary people and events, this voice allows Kim Wonu's works to become something more than mere 'novel of manners' and offer intellectually engaging portraits of life that are at once fiercely critical and heart-warming.