So tell me, what do you do for a living?

The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjowall
Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville
The Nun's Story by Kathryn Hulme
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande
The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers

A landscape-painter and other tales : 1864-1874, by Henry ames
An architect in Italy, by Caroline Mauduit
Women Bookbinders, 1880-1920, by Marianne Tidcombe
A tenured professor, by John Kenneth Galbraith
The goldsmith of Florence : a book of great craftsmen, by Katharine Gibson

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternack
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
The Magicians's Assistant by Ann Patchett
First Kill All the Lawyers by Sarah Shankman
The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Nancy Runs the Bookmobile by Enid Johnson
Allison Day, Weather Girl by Nell Marr Dean
Prima Ballerina by Gladys Malvern

Father Vincent McNabb, great Dominican: . . .
by Ferdinand Valentine

Raise high the Roof Beam: Carpenter*
by J. D. Salinger

"Hallelujah, Iʻm a Bum" (film)

A Man with no Talents: . . . a Tokyo Day Laborer
by Oyama Shiro

The Doctor in Spite of (My)self)* by Moliere

*Title slightly adapted to sound more like an answer to the title question.

I Am the Only Running Footman by Martha Grimes (...but spend most of my wages on shoes)
I capture the castle by Dodie Smith (...loot!)
I married a communist by Philip Roth (...not the most obvious source of income, but it could work)
I Sing the Body Electric by Ray Bradbury (...Hmmm. Not sure how that converts into a living wage.)
I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan (...if all else fails, blackmail is a nice, steady earner)

The Postman by David Brin
The Dramatist by Ken Bruen
Preacher by Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon
The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill
Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
The Confessor by Daniel Silva
The Dollmaker by Harriette Arnow
The Virtuoso by Grace Burrowes

" . . . . . from Grocer's Daughter to Prime Minister*
by John Campbell@

Minister to Others
by (no author listed)

DOCTOR, Zhivago!*
by Boris Pasternak

The Storekeeper
by Trace Campbell Peterson

Yankee Storekeeper
by R. E. Gould

WHICH John Campbell? - - Donʻt ask me, Iʻve probably narrowed it down to a few thousand people.

*Title adapted slightly to make it sound like an answer a la 5,6.

The Professor and the Housekeeper by Yoko Ogawa
The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman
The Pearl Diver by Jeff Talarigo
The Pirate Queen: The Story of Grace O'Malley, Irish Pirate by Alan Gold
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Five Ordinary Professions:

The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
The English Teacher by R.K. Narayan
The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart
Meet Inspector Banks by Peter Robinson
The Tailor of Panama by John le Carre

....and five professions that don't appeal to me.....

Hangman's Holiday by Dorothy L. Sayers
A Spy in Winter by Michael Hastings
Lust Killer by Ann Rule (really don't like his choice of career)
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

......the other option is just staying in bed like this fellow:

Lazybones by Mark Billingham

The Professor by Charlotte Bronte
Doctor in the House by Richard Gordon
Cherry Ames, Flight Nurse by Helen Wells
Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth
Helen and Teacher by Joseph K Lash

The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
My First Year as a Teacher by Pearl Rock Kane
The Doctor's Wife by Elizabeth Brundage
Death of a Dentist by M.C. Beaton
The Handyman by Carolyn See

"Iʻm a Fire Fighter"
by Mary Packard

"Da Meia"(a play)*
by Lee Cataluna

The Pope of Greenwich Village
by Vincent Patrick

The Picasso Scam(mer)**
by Stuart Pawson

"The Procurator of Judea"
by Anatole France
classic historical short story

* Da Meia": Hawaiʻi Creole for "The Mayor"

** Title slightly adapted

Absent-Minded Astrophysicist
Citybook I: Butcher, Baker, Candle-stick Maker
More Than a Carpenter
Dr. Doolittle
Practical Entomologist

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith
The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King
The Ambassadors by Henry James

The handmaid's tale by Margaret Atwood
The soldier and Death by Arthur Ransome
The rector's wife by Joanna Trollope
The firework-maker's daughter by Philip Pullman
The archivist's story by Travis Holland

The Complete Bartender
by Robyn Feller

The Barmaid, the Bean-counter, and the
Bungee-jumper
by The Thunderbird writers Group Pebbles

The Rector of Justin
by Louis Auchincloss

Chainbearer
by James Fenimore Cooper

Soldier(ly) Pay*
by William Faulkner

*TItle slightly adapted

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Big Boy Rules: America's Mercenaries Fighting In Iraq by Steve Fainaru
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by P.D. James
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
Mind Hunter by John Douglas

The New Centurians by Joseph Wambaugh
The Ambassador by Morris West
The Linguist and the Emperor by Daniel Meyerson
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

Career as a Lawyer: Criminal Defense Attorney
by Institute for Career Research

The Attorney
by Steve Martini

The Bail Bondsman
by Stanley Elkin

The Franchiser
by Stanley Elkin

The Judgeʻs Story
by Charles Morgan

La Dentelliere= The Lacemaker by Pascal Lainé
De pianostemmer = Der Klavierstimmer Pascal Mercier (means: The piano tuner}
De meisjes van de suikerwerkfabriek by Tessa de Loo (means: The girls of the confectionery factory)
The Singer by Calvin Miller
Tsjip de leeuwentemmer by Willem Elsschot (means: Tsjip, the Lion Tamer)

The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker by Suzanne Portnoy
The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek
Tevye the Dairyman by Shalom Aleichem
A School Inspector Calls by Gervase Phinn
Detective Inspector Huss by Helene Tursten

The barber's cutting edge by Gwendolyn Battle-Lavert
The agricultural labourer by Thomas Edward Kebbel
The butcher boy by Patrick McCabe
The potter's field by Ellis Peters
Reaper man by Terry Pratchett

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
All the President's Men by Bob Woodward
The Judge: an Untrue Tale by Harve Zemach
Richard Scarry's Busiest Firefighters Ever

Clown by Quentin Blake
The Acrobat and the Angel by Mark Shannon
Pierrot aan de lantaarn by Martinus Nijhoff
Le Dompteur d'ours by Yves Thériault l'ours = the bear
The little Juggler by Barbara Cooney

The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen
The Master Builder by Henrik Ibsen
Death of an Expert Witness by P.D. James
Death of a Chimney Sweep by M.C. Beaton
The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory

The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman
Cowboys and Cowgirls: YippeeYay! by Gail Gibbons
The Professor by Charlotte Bronte
Walter the Baker by Eric Carle
The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos

Butcher, Baker, Candlestick maker:
Occupations in Newburyport
Mass., from the 1850 Census . . .
by Margaret Peckham Motes

The Librarian of Basra: a True
Story from Iraq
by Jeanette Winter

Goldie Socks and the three
Librarians
by Jackie Mims Hopkins

"Viz Annual: the Butcherʻs Dustbin"
by Viz

Policeman in Armour by Rupert Penny

In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant
The Geographer's Library by Jon Fasman
The Mapmakers by John Noble Wilford
American Assassin by Vince Flynn
The Coffee Trader by David Liss

Courtesans and Fishcakes: the
Consuming Passions of classical Athens
by James Davidson

Memoir of Douglass Houghton, first state geologist
of Michigan . . . by Alvah Bradish

On Becoming a Professional geographer
by S. Martin Kenzer

The Professor at the Breakfast Table
by Oliver Wendell Holmes

My first Year as a Teacher
by Pearl Rock Kane

The Musician's Daughter by Susanne Dunlap
The Pianist The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945 by Władysław Szpilman
Danilov, the Violist by Vladimir Orlov
The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly
The Little Drummer Girl by John Le Carré

Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kastner
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carre
The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Coal Miner's Daughter by Loretta Lynn
The Parson's Daughter by Catherine Cookson

Encounters With the Archdruid by John McPhee
The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan
The Beekeeper's Ball by Susan Wiggs
The City Gardener's Handbook by Linda Yang
Death of a Dentist by M.C. Beaton

The Bee-man of Orn
by Frank Stockton

Report of a Surveyor
(no author listed)

A Bakerʻs Dozen
by Dorothy Hewitt

More than A Carpenter
by Josh McDowell

Hand of a Craftsman: the Woodcut
Technique of Gustave Baumann
by David Acton

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O'Neill
Death of a Scriptwriter by M.C. Beaton
The Hermit of Eyton Forest by Ellis Peters
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

Emeric Pressburger: the Life
and Death of a Screenwriter
by Kevin MacDonald

Furniture by Architects: International
Masterpieces of Twentieth-Century
Design and where to Buy them
by Mark Emery

The Franchiser by Stanley Elkin*

The Bail Bondsman by Stanley Elkin

The Woodcutter by Kate Danley**

*Met author.
** Title also used by Reginald Hill

the postman always rings twice by james cain

the hypnotist by lars kepler

as chimney sweepers come to dust by alan Bradley

the hangman by louise penny

the Italian secretary by caleb carr

The Cardinal and the Secretary:
Thomas Wolsey and Thomas
Cromwell by Neville Williams

The Secretary of Dreams
by Stephen King

Hail Shorthand: a Superior System of


The Assistant by Bernard Malamud

"The Magicianʻs Assistant"
by

The Magicans Nephew by C. S. Lewis
Well Loved Tales: The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Ladybird Series
Sue Barton, Student Nurse by Helen Dore Boylston
Herr Puntila und sein Knecht Matti sein Knecht= His Servant by Bertolt Brecht
Alvin Journeyman by Orson Scott Card

Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel
Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (2 in 1!)
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Policeman Small by Lois Lenski

The Soldier by Grace Burrowes
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
The Young Country Doctor by Vernon Coleman
The Judge by Steve Martini
Teacher Man by Frank McCourt

Soldiers Pay by William Faulkner

A Carpenterʻs Life as told by Houses
by Larry Haun

Qing Carpenter for the Cases of Assembly. . .
by Wang Shi Xiang

The Principalʻs on the Roof a
Fletcher Mystery by Elizabeth Levy

"Liarʻs Fire: a Cooper Brothers Novel"
by Dee Burks

The Pilot: a Tale of the Sea by James Fenimore Cooper
Teacher: Anne Sullivan Macy by Helen Keller
Our Librarian Won't Tell Us Anything by Toni Buzzeo
Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

The return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien
Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner by Daniel Defoe
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert

The Gamekeeper by Barry Hines
The Young Forester by Zane Grey
The Constant Gardener by John Le Carré
The Royal Ranger by John A. Flanagan
Farmer Giles of Ham by J. R. R. Tolkien

Farmer in the Sky
by Robert Heinlein

Surveyor by G. W. Hawkes

The Forester: a novel
by James Kraus

The Notebook of a Colonial Clergyman
by Henry Melchior Muhlenberg

Arrowmaker by Roy Chandler

A Restless Knight by Deborah MacGillivray
The Egyptologist by Arthur Phillips
The Adventurers by Harold Robbins
The Messenger by Daniel Silva
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

Chaplain Fuller, being a Life sketch
of a New England Clergyman and
Army Chaplain
by Richard Fuller

My Eskimos: a Priest in the Arctic
by Roger Bullard

Adventures of a Mathematician
by S. M. Ulam

I can be a Geographer
by Paul Siplera

The Little Fireman
by Margaret Wise Brown

De linke golfspeler = The Heart of a Goof by P. G. Wodehouse lit: The Dangerous (mete) Golf Player
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner by Alan Sillitoe
Fantastic Federer : The Biography of the World's Greatest Tennis Player by Chris Bowers
Cruijff ! van Jopie tot Johan : de opkomst van de beste voetballer aller tijden by Bert Hiddema
Cruijff ! from Jopie to Johan The emergence of the best Footballer (soccer player) ever
The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist by Arthur Conan Doyle

Coureurs de Bois / *Woods Runner(s)

I Want to Be a Builder
by Dan Liebman

Guard of Honor by James Gould Cozzens

The British Bibliographer (serial)

Hardcourt Confidential: Tales from
Twenty Years in the Pro Tennis Trenches
by Patrick McEnroe

*NOt guaranteeing that there is
an English edition

The American Senator by Anthony Trollope
Soldier's Heart by Gary Paulsen
The Librarian From the Black Lagoon by Mike Thayer
Billy Budd, Sailor by Herman Melville
Cowboy Small by Lois Lenski

Servant Leader by Ken Blanchard

Admiral of Fear by Victor Suthren

Admiral of the Ocean Sea
by Samuel Eliot Morison

Horrocks: the General who Led from the Front
by Phillip Warner

Corporal Cameron of the Northwest Mounted
Police: a Tale of the MacLeod Trail by Ralph Connor

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
The Baker's Dozen by Heather Forest
Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
The Nazi Officer's Wife by Edith Hahn Beer
Life in Motion: an Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland

Shoemaker: Americaʻs Greatest Jockey
by Bill Shoemaker

Connie Cobbler: Toy Detective
by James DeSalvo

A Carpenter by Douglas Florian

"The Shoemakerʻs Holiday" by Thomas Dekker

The Roofer by Erica Orloff

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea by Yukio Mishima
The Ragman's Son by Kirk Douglas
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone
Tuesday the Rabbi Saw Red by Harry Kemelman
The Footballer's Wife by Kerry Katona

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design
by Richard Dawkins

Death of a River Guide by Richard Flanagan

Genetics: An Introduction for Dog Breeders
by Jackie Isabell

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

The Three Evangelists by Fred Vargas
The Alchemist in the Shadows by Pierre Pevel
I Play the Drums in a Band Called Okay by Toby Litt
The Archivist's Story by Travis Holland
The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

The Tsar of Love and Techno: Stories by Anthony Marra
Outlaws of the Lakes: Bootlegging and Smuggling from Colonial Times to Prohibition by Edward Butts
The Orchard Keeper by Cormac McCarthy
Letters to a Young Scientist by Edward O. Wilson
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway

Piers Plowman by William Langland
Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer by Kelly Jones
Doctor de Soto by William Steig
The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett

A Carpenter by Douglas Florian

More than a Carpenter
by Josh McDowell

The Roofer by Erica Orloff

"The Nightwatchman's Occurrence Book"
by V. S. Naipaul

The Hairdresser of Harare
by Tendai Huchu

Daisy Miller by Henry Miller
The Voyages of Dr. Doolittle by Hugh Lofting
Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus
The Shepherd of the Hills by Harold Bell Wright
The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

"A Bakerʻs Portrait" by Michelle Evans

"The Mystery of a Butcherʻs Shop"
by

Citybook I: Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker
by Larry DiTillio

A Bakerʻs Portrait by Michelle Edwards

"The Mystery of a Butcherʻs Shop"
by Gladys Mitchell

"Cosmopolitan: a Bartenderʻs Life"
by Toby Cecchini

The Cleaner of Chartres
by Salley Vickers

Teacher's Pest by E.S. Mooney
The Sheriff of Nottingham by Richard Kluger
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Death of an Irish Tinker by Bartholomew Gill
Tales of the Bounty Hunters by Kevin J. Anderson

Sous Chef by Michael Gibney
Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell
The Butcher Bird by S.D. Sykes
Marine Sniper by Charles Henderson
Cops and Robbers by Donald E. Westlake

Honor Among Thieves by Jeffrey Archer
Death of a Dentist by M.C. Beaton
Dear and Glorious Physician by Taylor Caldwell
Ghost Hunter by Jayne Castle
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Policeman Small by Lois Lenski
The Library Policeman by Stephen King
A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Nurse, Soldier, Spy: the Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero by Marissa Moss
The Sheriff Takes a Wife by Debbie Macomber

A House of Tailors
by Patricia Reilly Giff

The Three Poor Tailors
by Victor Ambrus

A Tinker and a Poor Man: John Bunyan
and his Church, 1628-1688
by Christopher Hill

The Carpenters: the Untold Story: an
Authorized Biography
by Ray Coleman

"In the Shadow of Eagles; From
Barnstormer to Alaska Bush Pilot,
a Flyerʻs Story" by Rudy Billberg