Working Class Zero

"Think Nick Hornby or even Roddy Doyle…adds a much-needed rebel yell to…CanLit."

¾ Eye Magazine

"What a hoot! Quirky and original…"

¾ Will Ferguson, author of Happiness

"…a surprisingly heartfelt book."

¾ Quill & Quire

Thus begins 30-year old Jay Thompson’s tale of life in Corporate Purgatory. From the individual production modules (a.k.a. cubicles), KGB-style receptionists, and inept bosses with Rod Stewart hair, life has never been easy at HMS Trust’s head office.

Things are about to get a lot worse.

Thanks to his "high accuracy" assessment (which took the employment agency all of one hour to complete), Jay lands the biggest promotion-with-out-pay in his life – as the reluctant head of a chaotic call centre full of temps, at peak season.

Enter young Samantha, a temp with more flirtatious energy than Helena Bonham Carter. And of course Jan, Jay’s longtime live-in girlfriend (a second-year doctoral student majoring in English Literature/Antisocial Neglect of Her Life Partner); best friend Tyler (dispenser of suspect advice, part-time Ringo Starr impersonator); brother Sheldon (armed with a major life-changing announcement); and psychotic parents Jim and Sharon, who take bitter recrimination to all-star levels.

What we get is an honest, wickedly funny and ruthlessly disenchanting look at life, love, and middle management in the Age of the Corporation.