Company

Ah, office life. So rife for parody. So fertile with corporate absurdity. Where mankind's unique lunacies are simultaneously coddled and dismissed. The things that make us uncomfortable and disgruntled are handled with pig-skin gloves and ice tongs, and the things that make us excited and content are considered extraneous to the bottom line. Where back sides are so well-covered that they're almost impossible to kiss. Is there any better fodder for  literature , television , or  movies ?Joshua Ferris' debut novel, "Then We Came to the End," comes along at a time when the corporate zeitgeist is experiencing a resurgance in parody and satire, and some would say he joins the ranks of those who get it right, who manage to sock the nail squarely on the head. I won't go that far.I give the guy props for aiming high. His book, written in the first-person plural, is told from the view of over half a dozen different characters. The effect is more than a little dizzying, although it does give the book the sense of collective panic and confusion that seems to pervade the cloth-lined cubicles of most white-collar rat mazes. His quirky characters -- Tom Mota (unhinged idealist), Chris Yop (office supply thief), Carl Garbedian (emasculated pill popper) -- they all sing and dance like very real people, and their interactions are well-played and telling, even if they aren't also very interesting.What would've made them interesting would've been some sort of coherent story line, a plot hub around which they all could've spun. Instead, the most consistent thread to the tale is the overarching dread each of them has about being fired, the final notice when their lives' greatest suspicions are confirmed: you are not necessary or important. The only real antagonist in this book is the Almighty Pink Slip, it's an idea, and (even more so) it's the uncertainty and chaos that hides behind the idea. As far as Ferris' drones are concerned, Life After Layoffs is just as sticky a wicket as Life After Death.It's not a bad premise, and Ferris' decision to deliver it from the perspective of the collective lends the story a lot more weight than it might otherwise have. After all, equating the loss of a job with the loss of a life is the bailiwick of all good office parody; have we become so disconnected from our souls that our identity is tied up in pay grades and job labels? (Ever heard this exchange before? "After all, I'm Assistant Regional Manager." "No, you're Assistant TO the Regional Manager.")Unfortunately, Ferris' book, in spite of its clever rambling, in spite of how deftly the protagonists pass of the narration without missing a stride, in spite of how nimbly office politics are parlayed into things like emails, office chairs, and cubicle knick-knacks -- in spite of all of this, it doesn't really pack much punch until the last few pages, when the real humanity of the characters is finally allowed to stand out. The final lines of the novel are really just very, very good stuff, but it comes at the tail end of a lot of ham-fisted meandering, and it makes you wonder just how good the book could've been had Ferris not tried so hard to be funny, and had instead tried harder to be real.He could've taken a lesson from Max Barry's "Company," another book about office politics, but one that goes more whole-hog with its satire. The slim tome starts with the theft of a donut and swiftly crumbles in on itself in a deliciously over-done send-up of every element of office life, from the dark overlords at Human Resources, to the pale, squinting I.T. guys. The novel follows the trail of Stephen Jones, the new guy at a corporate behemoth called Zephyr Holdings. Jones barely has enough time to warm the seat of his chair before consolidations and lay-offs rock the business. Inter-office politics lock down all progress, salespeople are ordered to REDUCE productivity, the buttons in the elevator are all backwards, and no one -- absolutely no one -- can even tell Jones just what the company does, anyway. Also, there's still a donut thief on the loose.Although Barry's book is a bit more juvenile than Ferris', that also means it's having a lot more fun. Jones goes on a quest to untangle the quagmire of memos and inter-departmental backstabbing that seems to be the lifeblood of Zephyr, and along the way he uncovers a dark, fundamental truth behind the way all businesses are run: employees are unnecessary. Ferris spends over half of his novel asking the old "Am I really significant?" question, while Barry jumps straight into explaining the answer."Company" gets a little kooky near the end, and in that way, it's sort of the anti-thesis of "Then We Came to the End." The body of one wants the conclusion of the other. But, even if "Company" takes to fantastical lengths the Swiftean logic of big business, it still comes out ahead in terms of sheer entertainment and thought-cud. Barry doesn't have the literary grace of Ferris, but he does manage to put together a more revealing, a more pertinent, and a funnier story.I guess it boils down to what kind of boss you are: do you like clever busy work, or do you want results at all costs? Ferris gives you one, and Barry gives you the other. Either way, it beats actually working.

Max Barry may be contemporary fiction's hippest satirist; a creative genius whose rapier insight slices through the veneer of corporate culture exposing the disturbingly obvious. "Company" reads like a novel that was difficult to write - a novel that Barry, torn between black humor, a management manual, or Dave Barry-like parody, tries to balance all three in a single book. And for the most part, succeeds."Jones" is a freshly minted b-school grad landing a sales assistant job at Seattle's Zephyr Holdings, a corporate monolith so stereotypical that employees not only wonder which cog they are in the bureaucratic machinery, but have no idea exactly what Zephyr does. The idealistic Jones, against the admonition of his fellow workers, makes it his mission to find out answers beyond "it's always been that way." Initially, Barry riffs of management incompetence and workplace high jinks is so over the top that Barry's normally keen satire seems simply silly: the CEO who no one has ever seen; the drop-dead gorgeous receptionist who seems to come and go as she pleases; the drama of a missing donut. But Barry doesn't linger too long in frivolity, taking a turn to reveal the dark and almost believable secrets of Zephyr revealing the sordid underbellies of business, bureaucracy, and human nature."Company" is a fast and mildly entertaining read exposing the foibles of work in America; more disturbing in its revelations than funny, more serious than the cynical wackiness of "Syrup" [ASIN:0140291873 Syrup], more hyperbole than the poignant "Machine Man" [ASIN:0307476898 Machine Man]. Barry's broad ambitions make for an uneven pace that stretches too far in making some points, but hits home on others as it skewers management principals and the industry that studies and writes about it. While not Barry's best effort, a worthwhile and instructive read for any of us corporate "headcount."

Max Barry gives a fanstastic view of the modern-day corporation in this book, at least for the first 90 pages of the novel. We follow Jones, the main character, and corporate new hire in his first job. The corporate stereotypes are a little over the top...but done quite well and are often hilarious. References to "Six Sigma," and "Total Market Driven Quality" are actually spot on! I have encountered the very same corporate buzzwords while working for a real-life Fortune 500 company.Then is a twist that Barry inserts in the story that changes things--significantly. I won't elaborate here as that would make for a spoiler.Finally, there are a couple of characters that have a...very unlikely relationship that is a bit hard to believe. Also the overall story is a humorous one and not to be taken as a serious critique of modern day business.Overall, this is a good read for some quick and light entertainment!

A disarmingly funny examination of a certain kind if MBA worldview, done through the eyes of a business novel. Max Barry takes the logical ideas of drive down costs and drive up profits to their logical extremes, while providing you with believable, real characters that you feel for. The ideas are analyzed in the best possible way - with a believable story that cranks the ideas to 11 and plays them out, complete with consequences.Tragic hilarity or hilarious tragedy, take your pick. At one point I was unable to suspend my disbelief, it was just too unreal, which is why I give this four stars instead of five. Still, if you've seen companies look only at the numbers and destroy themselves through outsourcing and cost cutting - you'll appreciate this book. If you haven't, well, read it. It's funny and can help you avoid a kind of corporate sickness that is too common in the developed world, particularly the USA right now.

Company is another one of those novels about a dystopian company with fearsome bosses, mindless bureaucratic processes and subjugated staff. In this case, Zephyr is a company with an orange corporate colour, an office building with the floors numbered from top to bottom, and a senior management that nobody has ever seen. There are slogans, superstitions and arguments about missing doughnuts. There are protocols about who sits where, with training sales team on one side of the great partition (aka The Berlin Wall) and their assistants sat the other side. Enter stage left, a new employee, Jones, who imagines that it doesn't have to be this way. Even more dangerously, he tries to find the meaning behind Zephyr's mission statement.It's a bit of a me-too novel. The great corporate conspiracy, the satire on office politics, the naked greed of corporate America - it has all been done before (e.g. Iain Banks, Scarlett Thomas, Rupert Thompson). But Company is a reasonable addition to the canon. Max Barry is a good story teller although his achilles heel is that he can't do endings. In this case, the ending is as chaotic as all his others but is mercifully short. His characters are unashamedly cartoony stereotypes and his plot is incredible (actually, probably impossible). But his ideas are interesting and conveyed with humour.As holiday reading, Company was amiable ... er... company for a couple of days. But don't expect it to change your horizons.

I originally added this to my wishlist after reading an article on Seth Godin's blog on some books he recommended to read.I knew I would like the book from the minute the dedication page said the book was for Hewlett-Packard. As an ex HP employee who had to go through the Compaq merger and the dreaded Carly years, that had my attention straight away. The fact that the fictional company in this book mirrors not only HP, but other companies I've worked for like Oracle simply makes this book hilarious. It had a very sudden and abrupt ending which is the only reason I didn't mark it much higher. It reminded me of the movie "The Raid". That movie had a great start and middle, but the end came very quickly and was not as polished as the rest in my personal opinion.Having said all of the above, if you work for a large company, this is a great book to buy, as well as e by Matt Beaumont.

If Orwell and Palahniuk had a baby and cast it in Office Space it might look like this. Very enjoyable quick and easy read. 4.5*

Excellent dark parody of corporate culture, but beyond that concept the story lacks somewhat.

A fantastic pseudo fantasy look at the world of corporate life with twists and turns and a plot so unbelievable it could almost be true.The writing sparkles and shows the authors past as a clearly a very misanthropic colleague in a very apathetic company.Looking for advice on how to be an effective manager, throw away the guides and just read this...