Jimmy Qi is the author of “Yu Li: Confessions of an Elevator Operator”, the hilarious story
of a migrant worker who works as an elevator operator in a luxury apartment building as he
struggles to understand city life. He is fluent in English, Chinese and at least six other languages
(including Esperanto). Jimmy’s intellectual wit and broad perspective has seen him compared
to renowned twentieth century Chinese writers like Qian Zhongshu, Lin Yutang and Lao She.
His diverse writer’s portfolio includes works on philosophy of art, and linguistics as well several
novels, which are notable for their humor. As a child during the Cultural Revolution, Jimmy
accompanied his parents to a cadre’s reform camp. Later, he spent ten years in Canada,
where, bored with his job, he started to write. Jimmy lived for many years in Canada, Japan
and Hong Kong, before returning to Mainland China ten years ago to start a new career as a
university teacher. He is currently doing research in literature at Beijing University.