Kafka's style is one of literary modernism. Like most of Kafka's works, "A Hunger Artist" is an absurdist work in which an unlikely protagonist tries to make sense of the nonsensical world around him; in this case, it is the world of street-performing hunger artists. In this story, the protagonist is genuinely infatuated with his work, holding himself in high esteem as the "world's greatest faster" while simultaneously asserting how easy it is to do.

The style is expository and ethereal, both flawlessly explaining the world of street-performing fasting artists and laying out the absurd and surreal world of the particular artist. Here, the all too familiar Kafka protagonist feels so out of place with the world that he cannot help but question every aspect of how and why he is there.