21st-century 21st-century-society absurd absurdism absurdist absurdist-fiction absurdity addiction adventure advertising alienation alternative-lifestyles art artificial-intelligence behavior black-comedy black-humor blizzards bureaucracy business canada canadian canadian-author canadian-authors canadian-fiction canadian-literature character-driven childandyouthfiction children'sfiction children'sstories christmas comedy coming-of-age computer-programmers computer-programming computers consumer-culture consumerism contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature contemporary-society corporate-culture corporate-life corporate-world counterculture coupland creative-writing creativity cubicle-life cultural-critique cultural-references cynicism d dark-comedy dark-humor diaries diaryfiction diaryofawimpykidbook06cabinfever digital-age digital-culture disillusionment douglas douglas-coupland drugs dysfunction dysfunctional dysfunctional-families dysfunctional-family dysfunctional-relationships dystopian eccentric-characters entertainment-industry escapism existential existential-crisis existentialism families family family-dynamics family-relationships familylife fear fiction friendship gaming gaming-culture gaming-industry geek geek-culture geeks gen-x general generation-x generational-divide globalization graphicnovels gregheffley holidays humor humorous humorousstories identity identity-crisis indie-culture indie-music individualism internet internet-culture irony isolation jpod juvenilefiction juvenilewitandhumor life-in-the-digital-age literary-fiction literature media metafiction mid-life-crisis middleschools millennial millennial-culture millennial-generation millennials misfit-protagonists modern-life modern-society nerd-culture nerds nerdy newyorktimesbestseller novel nyt:series_books=2009-01-10 offbeat office office-culture office-dynamics office-life office-politics pop-culture pop-culture-references post-modernism postmodern postmodern-fiction postmodern-literature postmodernism programming protagonist quirky quirky-characters rebellion relationships satire satirical schools self-aware self-awareness self-discovery self-identity self-reference self-referential self-reflection self-reflexivity sitcom slacker-culture smart-comedy social-commentary social-criticism social-critique social-satire software-development subculture subversion subversive surreal surrealism tech-industry technology television unconventional unconventional-narrative urban-life vancouver vandalism video-game video-game-development video-game-industry video-games wit work work-culture workplace workplace-comedy workplace-culture workplace-dynamics workplace-humor workplace-satire young-adult