( CNN ) -- Egypt 's revolution has made life tougher still for Cairo 's 80,000 taxi drivers , struggling to make a living on the city 's chaotic , congested and potholed streets , says the author who has written a best-selling book about them . Khaled AlKhamissi 's novel `` Taxi , '' first published in 2006 , has been translated into 10 languages . It features 58 fictional monologues with taxi drivers recreated from his own experience . A new post-revolution English edition has just been published . Despite the optimism that swept Egypt after president Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February , AlKhamissi said taxi drivers , and the rest of the country 's poor , have in fact suffered more since then . `` My taxi drivers are among the 55 % of the population living under the poverty line of $ 2 a day , '' said AlKhamissi . `` Those 55 % were not on the streets during the revolution and are without a real voice now . `` They are wise , they are watching , they are analyzing , but they are not acting . '' He added : `` Life has changed for them in the wrong direction . It 's worse for them because we have no security and living on the streets without security is dangerous . `` There is less tourism and more chaos on the streets . '' AlKhamissi said it was too early to tell if life was improving for the middle classes who took to the streets during the revolution . `` We are in the middle of a battle , and during the battle we ca n't see whether life is improving or not , '' he said . AlKhamissi , whose second novel `` Noah 's Ark '' -- also a bestseller -- was published in 2009 , said he stopped writing his third novel at the start of the uprising on January 25 this year and has been unable to concentrate on writing since . `` It 's impossible to write because my mind is taken with what is happening day after day , hour after hour , '' he said . Since January , AlKhamissi has filled his time with a weekly newspaper column , lectures and speaking events . But the author wants to get back to writing fiction . `` Every night I want to write because it is my only job , my only happiness , '' he said . `` I have to find a solution soon or I will die . '' `` Taxi '' was credited with single-handedly reviving an interest in reading in Egypt , according to its publisher Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation , but AlKhamissi denies his book is responsible . He said : `` Some journalists have said that about my book , but it 's nonsense to say that one book or 10 books can change reading habits . `` Reading has increased in the last six years , but it has taken many social factors . We have had a cultural revolution in the last six years in all matters : Theater , music , fiction and publishing . `` This cultural revolution is related to youth searching for a dream . '' AlKhamissi said he dreams of an Egypt where taxi drivers could have the time and education to read his -- or any other -- book . `` They do n't have time to read because they are struggling to survive , '' he said . `` When we can increase the quality of education and decrease poverty , then they will be able to read . I 'm not interested in whether they read my book , I just hope they will read anything . '' Another novelist credited with changing reading habits in Egypt is Ahmed Khaled Towfik , a 49-year-old medical professor described by Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation as the Arab world 's most prominent bestselling author of fantasy and horror . He has written more than 200 books , selling millions of copies . He said he was among the first Egyptian authors to write for young people . `` Twenty years ago there was nothing for 16 , 17 , 18-year-olds to read , '' said Towfik . `` We invented popular literature . I think I made the youth fond of reading . `` I think most of my readers were in Tahrir Square . I changed a part of their thinking , although you ca n't compare that to their economic disappointment or the scourge of the police system . '' Towfik 's book `` Utopia , '' which has just been published in English , is a grim futuristic account of Egyptian society in the year 2023 with wealthy gated communities insulated from the poverty outside . Towfik said that despite Egypt 's revolution , he still fears the scenes in his book , first published in Arabic in 2009 , could come true . `` The first uprising came from the middle class , but I think another bloodier one could come from the lower classes , like described in my book 'Utopia ' . `` I still think there 's a danger my book could come true . '' He added : `` After nine months , nothing has been accomplished except getting rid of Mubarak . We got rid of the head of the snake , but the body of the snake is still ruling everything . ''
Life has got harder for taxi drivers since the revolution , says Khaled AlKhamissi . Author has been unable to concentrate on writing since January . The government is trying to get rid of a law that allows private companies to hire and fire drivers.