A Selection of Workplace Novels

It’s Labour Day and as good a time as any to delve into a few recommendations for office and workplace novels, a genre that has burgeoned thanks to late-stage capitalism. From iconic television series to books that explore unexpected sides of work - the place where most of us spend a majority of the everyday, this is a genre that has become increasingly relevant and popular in recent years. So here’s our selection of a few books that have pulled off talking about work without being quite as taxing as work.

Down and Out in Paris and London - George Orwell (1933)

Though not strictly a ‘workplace novel’, Orwell’s fictionalised accounts of being a writer between Paris and London while working various odd jobs including working as a dishwasher, this book offers a sobering look at the realities of working class city life. Based on his own experiences, Orwell’s work is, in a strange way, a precursor to books like 1984 and Animal Farm that so brilliantly satirised contemporary society.  

Then We Came to the End - Joshua Ferris (2006)

Told through the omniscient ‘we’, Joshua Ferris’ book about the employees of a Chicago ad agency has been called ‘the great office novel’. From office gossip to workplace romance to email etiquette to politics to a downturn to elaborate pranks to coffee breaks, the book can be seen as a kind of predecessor to ubiquitous office sitcoms of the past decade, with more emotional punch and an accurate grasp of modern corporate life. 

The Imperfectionists - Tom Rachman (2010)

Charting with deadly accuracy the slow demise of an English newspaper based in Rome, Rachman’s novel is based on his own journalism experience. He gives us a behind the scenes look at the personal and professional lives of a ragtag cast of editors, writers and executives in the form of interconnected stories set in the offices of this publication. Praised as a stunning debut, it’s well worth checking out. 

Convenience Store Woman - Sayaka Murata (2016)

Sayaka Murata’s stunningly original debut made waves for its depiction of Keiko, a Tokyo-based convenience store employee who is strangely and almost disturbingly in love with the menial job she holds at ‘Smile Mart’. Convenience Store Woman is a powerful and tonally unique work that offers a contemporary and fresh portrait of modern work culture, the pressure to conform, and the death of ambition, among other things.  

Severance - Ling Ma (2018)

Ling Ma’s debut has gotten a great deal of attention after the pandemic for more or less predicting a phenomenon like the coronavirus in the form of the analogous ‘Shen fever’. But another impressive aspect of the book is the way in which it so perfectly skews office politics and the meaninglessness of many modern jobs. The protagonist works for a publisher of bibles as a production co-ordinator, and is trapped in her workplace after a deadly virus takes hold of the planet. The fact that this pitch-perfect premise was devised years before the pandemic is testament to the novel’s incisive originality.  

The New Me - Halle Butler (2020)

The back cover of ‘The New Me’ captures perfectly the premise of this hilarious novel - ‘a dizzying descent into the mind of a young woman trapped in the funhouse of American consumer culture’. Millie, the main character, is a young woman going between various temp jobs in search of a full-time gig while becoming increasingly misanthropic and doubtful. The book is funny, sharply satirical, relatable and looks at questions of work, self worth and purpose in an uncomfortable manner. 

The Very Nice Box - Eve Gleichman, Laura Blackett (2021)

This relatively recent debut from two Brooklyn co-authors is a unique take on the workplace romance and satire, told from a fresh perspective. It follows the life of Ava, a furniture designer who is dealing with the loss of her former partner and falls in love with her new, much younger boss. But what seems like a standard satire evolves unexpectedly into an unhinged thriller which pokes fun at millennial work culture, wellness apps, male entitlement and much more while maintaining a strong emotional core.