Nestled among Seattle's skyscrapers, The Zephyr Holdings Building is a bleak rectangle topped by an orange-and-black logo that gives no hint of Zephyr's business. Lack of clarity, it turns out, is Zephyr's defining characteristic. The floors are numbered in reverse. No one has ever seen the CEO or glimpsed his office on the first (i.e., top) floor. Yet every day people clip on their ID tags, file into the building, sit at their desks, and hope that they're not about to be outsourced.
Stephen Jones, a young recruit with shoes so new they squeak, reports for his first day in the Training Sales Department and finds it gripped by a crisis involving the theft of a donut. In short order, the guilty party is identified and banished from the premises and Stephen is promoted from assistant to sales rep. He does his best to fit in with his fellow workers—among them a gorgeous receptionist who earns more than anyone else, and a sales rep who's so emotionally involved with her job that she uses relationship books as sales manuals—but Stephen is nagged by a feeling that the company is hiding something. Something that explains why when people are fired, they are never heard from again; why every manager has a copy of the Omega Management System; and, most of all, why nobody in the company knows what it does.
"Always entertaining, Dufris reads this story of corporate revolt with comic timing and tongue firmly planted in cheek, making it an ideal audiobook to enjoy on one's way to work." —AudioFile
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"Worth it just for the too-true glimpses of the absurdity of Corporate life. Sure, it tangents off into some amusing jabs at the Leadership Book industry, and the overt heartlessness of '"it's just business"-spouting DBs, but the brutally funny caracacatures of Senior Management, HR, and cubicle farms kept me glued. Can I give a 3.75? Sure I can. I can give a 3.81 if I want, and that's what I'm giving."
— Scott (4 out of 5 stars)
“As bitter as break-room coffee, the novel eviscerates demeaning modern management techniques that treat workers as ‘headcounts.’ Though Barry’s primary target is corporate dehumanization, he’s at his funniest lampooning the suits that tread the stage, consumed by the sound and fury of office politics that signify nothing.”
— Publishers Weekly" Pretty funny, but I think it took an unexpected turn towards the end. "
— Meri, 2/17/2014" There's nothing better than cubicle humor for those of us who work in office jobs. So many moments in this book made me smile. "
— Jane, 2/11/2014" I thought this succeeded for the same basic reason that Barry's previous novel, "Jennifer Government," failed: In "Government," he was so busy sketching a macro-world with broad strokes that he didn't have any creative energy left over for the actual characters, and so nearly all of them came off as wooden and unidimensional (none more so than the five stock villains with the same last name, as part of the book's central conceit). With "Company," by sticking closer to what he knows (he worked at HP for several years before turning to fiction) and focusing his energies on a micro-world, I thought he was able to give both the world and the people within it the attention and detail they deserved. Also, placing his micro-world more firmly in the nether area between fantasy and reality, rather than making it a full-on fictional dystopia, gave his frequent dips into Palahniuk-style "this is how the world works" rhetoric more weight. That sort of thing always walks a thin line between lofty wisdom and bombastic pedantry. "
— Evan, 2/6/2014" I think this book is really funny, but it might be because I keep picturing the office from Archer. "
— Robin, 2/2/2014" Another cult classic from Max Barry. This novel is for readers who love a huge twist they don't see coming - and then another one. And another... "
— Dixon, 1/27/2014" Pretty funny... makes you think you're not so crazy after all. "
— Ann, 1/27/2014" Max Barry's social commentary is wickedly funny, and his characters are both endearing and somewhat repulsive because they manage to be both startlingly real and insanely exaggerated at the same time. "
— Cara, 1/17/2014" Possibly the best of Max Barry - satirizes the corporate life with a splendid story "
— Neil, 1/6/2014" Delightful read for those who dwell in cubicles all day. All it takes is one missing donut to send these office workers into a tailspin. Quirky and funny through out. A quick, light and easy read. "
— Megs, 1/3/2014" If you thought Dilbert was too subtle and believed Office Space needed more paranoia-style absurdity, this book is for you. I'm holding off on final judgment until I finish it but wow is it asking me to swallow a lot so far... "
— Head58, 12/7/2013" Great satire about working at large companies whose management don't quite make any sense. Fun book, but I'd recommend "Jennifer Government" above "Company". "
— Pink, 11/22/2013" Very funny take on the corporate office but the last part of the book made me very sad. "
— Sarah, 11/3/2013" Kind of boring until the twist, at which point it climbs up to "slightly amusing" by the skin of its teeth. "
— Very, 8/24/2013" I'm not in the mood for this book right now, so I'm going to move on to something more exciting in my library stack. "
— Joy, 8/3/2013" Awesome author to host (2007). I even made his blog. "
— Beth, 1/14/2013" The corporate satire continues! Not as good as Max Barry's earlier novels, but still entertaining, and a little unpredictable (in a good way). "
— charlotte, 12/29/2012" Half fun, half serious and half as original as Syrup. "
— Nadeen, 9/7/2012" Max Barry is from Melbourne but is incredibly underappreciated and unknown in his own country. This is an extremely witty and astute skewering of the modern corporate world. "
— Brett, 9/3/2012" Fantastic. Max Barry must have been lurking at my workplace. "
— gargravarr, 8/12/2012" It was an intresting easy read that pokes fun at corporate culture and pop management theories. "
— Rick, 4/23/2012" Another gift from a publicist. A funny little satire of corporate life that would probably resonate more if funny little satires of corporate life weren't a dime a dozen these days. "
— Sean, 12/23/2011" Didn't love it as much as Jennifer Gov't or Syrup, but I still think Max Barry is hysterical. "
— Carolyn, 12/10/2011" I didn't really care for this book much. It was funny in the beginning but it relied on the same formula for laughs the whole way through. "
— Belkis, 7/13/2011" So, so funny. I would read this over and over again. Absolutely hilarious satire. "
— Anastacia, 6/13/2011" Unnerving. Too much like my current company sometimes. But interesting to think of how people work. "
— Erin, 5/19/2011" This book reminded me of the TV show "The Office" , which I don't find humorous. I did like the book and found it an interesting possibility. "
— Tim, 3/15/2011" It was OK, nothing special though. "
— Tetiana, 2/26/2011" This book is absolutely hysterically funny - especially for anyone that has worked for a big corporation (still funny if you haven't). I didn't really guess the ending and even afterward- I still felt the idea was worth pondering over. "
— Carol, 1/28/2011" I've read a few books by Max Barry. They are all pretty good. This one had some interesting twists and plot line. "
— Brad, 1/25/2011" My favorite Maxx Barry book! Read it- it's cool. "
— Jen, 1/4/2011" There is much truth in the satirical novel and anyone who has worked in a large corporation will certainly identify with much of it. I laughed out loud in many places, at other times it was a bit depressing.<br/>Overall I would recommend this book "
— Diannegowder, 12/29/2010" Good read for fans of MicroSerfs (Douglas Coupland) and similar. Very funny at times. "
— Tim, 12/29/2010" I read this while I was on bed rest during my pregnancy and my complete boredom is the only thing that kept me reading. "
— Susan, 9/20/2010" Pretty interesting book, there is so much the book COULD do halfway through but the actual story seems phoned in. Fun quick read, but nothing especially good. Nick Sowden might like it. "
— Erik, 9/13/2010Max Barry is the author of Syrup, Jennifer Government, Company, and Machine Man. He lives in Melbourne, Australia.
William Dufris attended the University of Southern Maine in Portland-Gorham before pursuing a career in voice work in London and then the United States. He has won more than twenty AudioFile Earphones Awards, was voted one of the Best Voices at the End of the Century by AudioFile magazine, and won the prestigious Audie Award in 2012 for best nonfiction narration. He lives with his family in Maine.