We give an algorithm that generates a uniformly random contingency table with specified marginals, i.e. a matrix with non-negative integer values and specified row and column sums. Such algorithms are useful in statistics and combinatorics. When $Δ^4< M/5$, where $Δ$ is the maximum of the row and column sums and $M$ is the sum of all entries of the matrix, our algorithm runs in time linear in $M$ in expectation. Most previously published algorithms for this problem are approximate samplers based on Markov chain Monte Carlo, whose provable bounds on the mixing time are typically polynomials with rather large degrees.