There's a Book for That: Workplace Novels
Labor Day weekend is upon us! Observed on the first Monday in September, Labor Day is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the achievements of American workers. Labor Day weekend is often the last gasp of summer vacationing and recreation before Fall sets in. To encourage your escape into reading over the long weekend, check out the following new, popular, and classic workplace novels:
From a dazzling new international voice, an audacious, darkly funny novel about a young woman whose carefully crafted office persona threatens to crack when she’s forced to attend her company’s annual retreat.
“Castillo’s flinty satire of the tech industry [transforms] into a sultry romance novel.” —The Atlantic
A bold and inventive novel about real romance in the virtual workplace—bringing Castillo’s trademark wit and sharp cultural criticism to an irresistible story about the possible future of love.
A long-suffering employee in a big corporation has summoned up the courage to ask for a raise. But as he runs through the looming encounter in his mind, his neuroses come to the surface: What is the best day to see the boss? What if he doesn’t offer you a seat when you go into his office?
A 29-year-old copywriter realizes that beauty is possible (at a terrible cost) in this surreal, satirical send-up of NYC It-girl culture. Glittering with ominous flashes of Sophia’s coming-of-rage story, former beauty editor E.K. Sathue’s horror debut is as incisive as it is stomach-churning in its portrayal of all-consuming female friendship and the beauty industry’s short attention span. youthjuice does to skincare influencers what Bret Easton Ellis did to yuppies. You’ll never moisturize the same way again.
Jonathan Abernathy is a self-proclaimed loser— he’s behind on his debts, has no prospects, no friends, and no ambitions. But when a government loan forgiveness program offers him a literal dream job, he thinks he’s found his big break. If he can appear to be competent at his new job, entering the minds of middle-class workers while they sleep and removing the unsavory detritus of their waking lives from their unconscious, he might have a chance at a new life. As Abernathy finds his footing in this role, reality and morality begin to warp around him. Soon, the lines between life and work, love and hate, right and wrong, even sleep and consciousness, begin to blur.
A Chickasaw woman who can’t catch a break serves up a little white lie that snowballs into much more in this witty and irresistible rom-com by debut author Danica Nava.
Accountant Ember thrives in corporate life—and her love life seems to be looking up too: Danuwoa Colson, the IT guy and fellow Native who caught her eye on her first day, seems to actually be interested in her too. Despite her unease over the no-dating policy at work, they start to see each other secretly, which somehow makes it even hotter? But when they’re caught in a compromising position on a work trip, a scheming colleague blackmails Ember, threatening to expose their relationship. As the manipulation continues to grow, so do Ember’s lies. She must make the hard decision to either stay silent or finally tell the truth, which could cost her everything.
A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice
A black comedy workplace thriller set in a sprawling indoor shopping mall about a cabal of low-wage workers who plot violent acts of “resistance” against their managers. With fierce intellect, sharp wit, and original prose, Jamie Marina Lau interprets and vividly portrays the everyday violence and toil of contemporary working life.
Rona Jaffe’s beloved novel of mid-century NYC women in the workplace that paved the way for the #MeToo movement and iconic cultural touchstones like Mad Men, now for the first time in Penguin Classics, in a 65th anniversary edition with an introduction by New Yorker staff writer Rachel Syme
An obsessive power struggle between an editor and her millennial intern turns dangerous in this debut psychological thriller—for readers of Luckiest Girl Alive and You.
“Hypnotic . . . an addictive thriller.”—People
Now a musical starring Vanessa Williams
The iconic novel that inspired the hit movie starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway—a gloriously wicked story about the ultimate Boss from Hell and the deals we make with the devil to get to the top
For more information on these and related titles visit Labor Day
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