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For two years in the mid-1980s Günter Wallraff wore a black wig and dark contact lenses, called himself Ali and took the jobs West Germany gave its Turkish workers: cleaning out the Thyssen steelworks, working the grill at McDonald's, signing up as a test subject for drug trials. Ganz unten (1985), in English Lowest of the Low, sold more than five million copies. Eight years earlier he had spent four months on the staff of the tabloid Bild as “Hans Esser”, and he has kept going undercover since, into call centres, bakeries and a parcel-delivery depot. The ten below were chosen on two counts: each went inside an institution under a false identity or in a real job, and each turned what they found into a public case against it.
By Lisanne Swart · 10 authors · Undercover journalism · Work and power · Updated October 2026
Quick answer
If you love Günter Wallraff, the closest match is Ted Conover: a year as a guard at Sing Sing, after the prison refused him as a reporter. For the American originals, read Nellie Bly and Upton Sinclair; for the same method in a prison, Shane Bauer; for low-wage work, Barbara Ehrenreich; and for France, Florence Aubenas. Janet Malcolm questions the bargain all of them make. Each entry below says how they got inside and what case they made.
Where to start if you loved Günter Wallraff
If you want the closest match, read Ted Conover.
Newjack. A year as a guard at Sing Sing.
If you want where it began, read Nellie Bly.
Ten Days in a Mad-House. A New York asylum, 1887.
If you want the same method in a prison, read Shane Bauer.
American Prison. Four months as a private-prison guard.
If you want the British version, read James Bloodworth.
Hired. Six months of low-paid work.
If you want the case against, read Janet Malcolm.
The Journalist and the Murderer. What a writer owes the people who trust them.
If you want more reporting like this
My list of the best investigative journalism books has the rest.
10 authors like Günter Wallraff
Frequently asked questions about authors like Günter Wallraff
Who should I read if I love Günter Wallraff?
Ted Conover is the closest match: a year as a guard at Sing Sing. Nellie Bly and Upton Sinclair are the American originals of the undercover method, Shane Bauer, Barbara Ehrenreich, Florence Aubenas and James Bloodworth applied it to prisons and low-wage work, John Howard Griffin and Teun Voeten lived among people society pushed aside, and Janet Malcolm questions the bargain all of them make.
What books are similar to Ganz unten?
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich (2001), Newjack by Ted Conover (2000), American Prison by Shane Bauer (2018), Hired by James Bloodworth (2018) and, from France, The Night Cleaner by Florence Aubenas (2010).
Is Ganz unten available in English?
Yes, as Lowest of the Low, first published in English in 1988. Most of Wallraff's other books, including the three about Bild, are available only in German.
Has Günter Wallraff been criticised?
Yes. His methods have been challenged in court, especially by the publisher of Bild, and in 2009 his film Schwarz auf Weiß, in which he travelled through Germany disguised as a Black man from Somalia, was widely criticised for using blackface to tell a story about racism.
Where should I start with Günter Wallraff?
Ganz unten (1985), in English Lowest of the Low, is the book that made him famous outside Germany. My guide to nine key Günter Wallraff books in order covers the rest.
Footnotes
- Günter Wallraff — Wikipedia
- Der Aufmacher — Kiepenheuer & Witsch, rights page
- Ten Days in a Mad-House — Wikipedia
List last reviewed 5 October 2026.
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