Comments on: Why do offices make us so crazy?

Question: Why do offices make us so crazy?

reenum — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:58:53 -0800

Looking for books about the absurdity of life in an office or corporate environment

I've been reading "Then We Came to the End" by Joshua Ferris. I am loving this book.

Are there any other books about life in offices that you would recommend? Bonus points if it focuses on the absurdity of life in such environments like Ferris's book does.

I saw this thread, but it doesn't quite emphasize what I'm looking for.

By: OmieWise

OmieWise — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:03:40 -0800

I recently read that Ferris book, and I thought it was kind of a retelling of Kings of Infinite Space by James Hynes. It isn't the same, but there are some real similarities of tone. In my opinion, the Hynes book is better.

By: theiconoclast31

theiconoclast31 — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:05:40 -0800

Company by Max Barry!

By: mattbucher

mattbucher — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:06:33 -0800

Seconding the Hynes book. To some degree, I'd say Nicholson Baker's "The Mezzanine" is about work (or lunch break). Fight Club, too.

By: cgg

cgg — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:06:50 -0800

Any of the many Dilbert compilations? Does that count as a book?

By: Melismata

Melismata — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:06:53 -0800

The Dilbert Principle.

By: Melismata

Melismata — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:07:06 -0800

jinx!

By: tiburon

tiburon — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:10:24 -0800

Pastoralia by George Saunders. (Also his CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, which I haven't read yet.)

By: i_am_joe's_spleen

i_am_joe's_spleen — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:11:19 -0800

Parkinson's Law (C Northcote Parkinson) and The Peter Principle (Lawrence J Peter) have much to say on the subject of officialdom, bureaucracy and large organisations.

They are also very funny, even if they are decades old.

By: oh pollo!

oh pollo! — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:14:08 -0800

Bombardiers is basically Catch-22 rewritten for an office environment.
Microserfs is slightly tech dev biased but still fits the bill and is fantastically funny.

By: Rykey

Rykey — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:20:15 -0800

Something Happened is by the guy who wrote Catch-22, and is about the absurdity of the corporate environment.

By: thebellafonte

thebellafonte — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:21:40 -0800

I've read CivilWarLand in Bad Decline. The only story from that collection I remember having to do with the office is The 400-Pound CEO which is my favorite (with the title story and The Wavemaker Faulters coming in close seconds.)

By: tristeza

tristeza — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:24:14 -0800

"e" by Matthew Beaumont utterly hilarious - it's all "transcripts" of office emails. I cried laughing.

By: gregjones

gregjones — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:26:42 -0800

JPod by Douglas Coupland is pretty good, it's (partially) about a group of young people working for a computer-game company and their office life. I believe a TV series based on it has started in the US recently. It's subtitled "Microserfs for the Google generation" (same author), but not having read it I can't say which is better...

By: Netzapper

Netzapper — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:27:11 -0800

JPod

By: lpsguy

lpsguy — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:32:35 -0800

Oh yeah, Company by Max Barry. Great book.

By: slogger

slogger — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:52:22 -0800

Up the Agency by Peter Mayle.

By: OilPull

OilPull — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:54:01 -0800

Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis.

Published more than 80 years ago, but you'll be amazed at how much things have(n't) changed.

By: jonathanbell

jonathanbell — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:03:00 -0800

Slab Rat by Ted Heller. Media focused, but still office based.

By: newmoistness

newmoistness — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:21:40 -0800

Much of Americana, by Don DeLillo.

By: GaelFC

GaelFC — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:33:05 -0800

Doug Coupland's "Microserfs" has been mentioned, and it's awesome. At one point a programmer locks himself in his office after Bill Gates flames him, and his worried co-workers head to Costo, buy only flat foods, and shove them under the door.

By: milkrate

milkrate — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:36:43 -0800

The Wages of Genius by Gregory Mone

By: greenland

greenland — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:54:04 -0800

Nthing "Microserfs". I find myself reading that off and on at odd moments just because it's so damn entertaining. "JPod" is a stylistic sequel, but not as good.

By: captainawesome

captainawesome — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:57:59 -0800

Seconding "e" - holy crap that book is funny, if a comedy is indeed what you're looking for. Naturally, some of it is over the top, not unbelievably so.

By: slimepuppy

slimepuppy — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 15:00:20 -0800

Nthing Microserfs and Jpod. Both very entertaining.

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:31:42 -0800

Bellwether by Connie Willis.

By: mimi

mimi — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:39:34 -0800

Thirding "e" -- I've bought it twice now and lost both copies to colleagues who passed them on to other colleagues who passed them on and on...

By: ostranenie

ostranenie — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:56:17 -0800

Not sure if it counts, but the Dictionary of Corporate Bullshit had me in stitches.

By: Rae Datter

Rae Datter — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:20:01 -0800

In addition to The Company, Jennifer Government by Max Berry.
Fat Bald Jeff.

By: XMLicious

XMLicious — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:39:52 -0800

Not books but here's Strong Bad on IT and Business Trips.

By: HotPatatta

HotPatatta — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:16:43 -0800

You would love the movies Clockwatchers and Office Space.

By: ilana

ilana — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:12:33 -0800

Have to also nth Microserfs. Love that book. Coupland's great.

In keeping with the Canadian theme, Will Ferguson's Happiness, formerly published as Generica, might fit your bill. It's a satire concerning a man who works in the "slush pile" department of a self-help publishing company.

By: misteraitch

misteraitch — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 01:28:58 -0800

Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry by B. S. Johnson.