Company

Company is one of the best recent novels I've read. It reads like an episode of "The Office" co-written by George Orwell and Kurt Vonnegut--a lightning-fast read with equal doses of humor, thrills, and even a bit of skin-crawling creepiness. At the risk of dropping a few spoilers, Company is the story of Stephen Jones, a recent college grad who is accepted to a sales assistant position at Zephyr Holdings, a Seattle-based company. There he meets his coworkers--among them the hard-edged Elizabeth, sympathetic loser Freddy, and Roger, the self-absorbed idiot. After a few weeks on the job, Jones realizes that he has no idea what Zephyr does or who its customers really are. He decides to find out, and the answers he finds propel the story from the mundane to the surreal. Barry skilfully interweaves several parallel storys--Freddy's crush on the unattainable receptionist Eve, Elizabeth's coping with an unexpected pregnancy, the goings-on of Senior Management and a secret organization within the company itself, and, most hilariously, Roger's dogged pursuit of the One Who Stole His Donut. I bought Company on a whim, largely because I had read Barry's novel Jennifer Government a few years ago. While Jennifer Government was just as hilarious and thought-provoking as Company, Company is all-around better. It's got the same blistering pace, intricate plotting, and hilarious but recognizable characters, but it's much more streamlined and its barbs never fail to provoke laughs at the expense of the corporate world. Barry is obviously a brilliant satirist, but it's equally amazing to me how much he makes you feel for his characters, given his brisk, spare prose style. By the end of the novel I felt as though I were personally involved in the struggles of Jones, Freddy, and the rest. Company is a fast-paced, fun, and hugely entertaining novel well worth anyone's time. Highly recommended.

Well, I have read quite a few of the advertising/bussiness books in my time, and this is one of the best. It's just a lot of fun, amd I am not easily entertained, but I found myself laughing at least ten times during the course of the book. Given the cynic I am, this one gets a ten thumbs up, which is the best I can do anyway, for any book.Mind you, I am not one of those people who read only bussiness books, on the contraire, I read everything, but this one is a great analysis of the world we live in and the greed which dictates people to behave in the ways they were not born into.

Max Barry is the literary equivalent of Dilbert creator Scott Adams. Starting with Syrup, Barry's novels are both humorous and ruthless in their send-ups of the corporate world, satires that juggle biting wit with suspense. With Company, Barry skewers companies that reorganize with a regularity that rivals Old Faithful. Protagonist Jones is a newly hired sales assistant at Zephyr Holdings, a company whose employees are not exactly sure what the company does, although all are sure that the best way to survive is not to question the orders coming from Senior Management. The Training Sales Department, where Jones works, is embroiled in controversy because one of the reps did not get his morning donut, and there's talk of sabotage. When top-performing Wendell is fired for being "involved in some irregularities concerning morning snacks" and for having commissions that the unit wants to use for its own solvency, the reps realize that the company has begun to punish good results. The panic that ensues has sales reps scrambling to sabotage their own accounts so they can keep their jobs. In Barry's hands, the destruction of a company has never been so tongue-in-cheek. Here, a series of forwarded calls lead to the crash of the entire computer network, and, because someone must be blamed, the entire tech staff is ousted. Without a viable computer network, employees can't work, although, after the initial panic subsides, they are all too happy to pretend to be working without actually accomplishing anything. Mini-dramas erupt like pimples. As friends disappear from their cubicles, abruptly escorted off the premises by security, people willingly sever all ties with them. Conclusions, often based on nonsense, are whispered. In the midst of all this is Jones: fresh-faced, idealistic, ethical, and determined to do a good job despite the advice he receives from his co-workers. Barry's strength has always been in his absurdist touch, with individual scenes meaning much more than the characters that propel them, and Company does not divert from this winning formula. This novel's unrelenting mockery of American business practices will have readers alternately smiling and grimacing, especially if they have had even a small glimpse into today's corporate America.

Max Barry has written a very funny and fast-paced novel about working in the corporate world. The story begins in the all too familiar office environment, then catapults into a rollicking adventure of greed, jealousy, lust, and control. As in Jennifer Government, Max builds a strong cast of characters then shifts back and forth between them in a fun and exhilarating style. However, the writing of Company is tighter and more refined. Max's descriptions are quick and snappy. His dialogue shows an excellent ear for quickly communicating the flavor of his characters.

I was in the middle of reading The Kite Runner when this one finally arrrived (I preordered it months ago), but I immediately dropped everything else to read it. It's got a great plot twist early on, so I can't say too much about the story. It's about a guy who gets a job at a company and realizes soon after he begins that he has no idea what the company does. He begins a quest to understand the enigmatic mission of Zephyr Holdings, and that's when things turn a little strange. As in his others novels, Max Barry uses over-the-top parody to satirize the corporate world. This one's mainly about general management and office politics, so most everyone will see elements that they recognize. When you're not frightened by how familiar these characters and situations are, you'll be laughing. For anyone looking to comparison to his other novels: I think it's better than Jennifer Governement, but probably not quite as good as Syrup. It shares their theme of corporate satire but with more focus on general management. It's a quick read and a lot of fun, and I have a feeling it'll be one that I think about for a long time in the future.