Looking for good workplace fiction
April 16, 2012 8:20 AM

Please recommend to me some good workplace fiction.

Some examples of what I'm looking for: Even though these are all set among white-collar office workers, I'm also interested in books that focus on other kinds of work. However, I'm not really looking for police procedurals or medical or legal thrillers.

Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
posted by enn to Society & Culture (20 answers total) 21 users marked this as a favorite
Blood on the Forge has a lot to do with factory work and sharecropping.
posted by OrangeDrink at 8:23 AM on April 16, 2012


Microserfs.
posted by batmonkey at 8:25 AM on April 16, 2012


Not long ago, I was looking for short fiction with that theme. The best I came up with was a small scale literary journal called "Workers Write!"
posted by Stagger Lee at 8:26 AM on April 16, 2012


The Imperfectionists might be of interest.
posted by dekathelon at 8:49 AM on April 16, 2012


The Jungle
posted by brujita at 8:50 AM on April 16, 2012


Slab Rat, by Ted Heller.
posted by mothershock at 9:02 AM on April 16, 2012


Personal Days - Ed Park
Kings of Infinite Space - James Hynes
posted by mattbucher at 9:04 AM on April 16, 2012


Loving, by Henry Green, is about how the servants at a big house work and live together.
posted by Francolin at 9:09 AM on April 16, 2012


The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker.
posted by carrienation at 9:40 AM on April 16, 2012


Colin Harrison:

The Finder
The Havana Room
Manhattan Nocturne
posted by Kruger5 at 9:43 AM on April 16, 2012


Seconding The Mezzanine.
posted by El Sabor Asiatico at 10:13 AM on April 16, 2012


Company, by Max Barry
posted by nicwolff at 10:33 AM on April 16, 2012


Americana, by Don DeLillo -- it's where Ferris got the title for Then We Came to the End.
posted by newmoistness at 10:35 AM on April 16, 2012


Fat Bald Jeff, by Leslie Stella.
posted by Sidhedevil at 11:16 AM on April 16, 2012


PopCo by Scarlett Tomas. Nice Work, by David Lodge.
posted by BibiRose at 11:24 AM on April 16, 2012


I liked The Twins of Tribeca.
posted by SisterHavana at 1:51 PM on April 16, 2012


Apathy by Paul Neilan. Not going to be nominated for a Pulitzer, but I found it very funny.
posted by seiryuu at 4:46 PM on April 16, 2012


The Pale King by David Foster Wallace.
posted by Fister Roboto at 6:08 PM on April 16, 2012


What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn is partly about people working in a large mall, both in retail and security. It's also ace.
posted by mippy at 3:36 AM on April 17, 2012


Oh yes and Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan.
posted by BibiRose at 6:12 PM on April 17, 2012


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