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:

• Bartleby (of course)
• The Bug by Ellen Ullman
• Lightning Rods by Helen DeWitt
• Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
• The Exception by Christian Jungersen

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 (21 answers total)

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 [6 favorites]

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 [1 favorite]

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 [1 favorite]

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 [1 favorite]

The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker.
posted by carrienation at 9:40 AM on April 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

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

The Situation (PDF) by Jeff VanderMeer
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 10:29 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