21st-century absurdism absurdist absurdity addiction black-comedy boredom bureaucracy business canada canadian-literature canadianfiction canadianliterature character-driven comedy coming-of-age computer-programming computerindustry contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature corporate-culture corporate-life corporate-world counterculture coupland creative-writing creativity cubicle-life cultural-critique d dark-comedy dark-humor digital-age digital-culture disillusionment douglas douglas-coupland drugs dysfunction dysfunctional-families dysfunctional-family dystopian electronicgamesindustry electronicgamesindustryinfiction existential existentialism family family-dynamics family-relationships fiction friendship gaming gaming-industry geek-culture geeks(computerenthusiasts) general generation-x generational-divide generational-satire humor humorous identity identity-crisis indie-music internet internet-culture isolation jpod life-in-the-digital-age literary-fiction literature metafiction mid-life-crisis millennial-culture millennials misfit-protagonists nerd-culture nerds nerdy newyorktimesreviewed novel office-culture office-drama office-life office-politics pastiche pop-culture pop-culture-references post-modernism postmodern postmodern-fiction postmodern-literature postmodernism programming protagonist quirky-characters rebellion relationships satire self-discovery self-identity self-referential smart-comedy social-commentary subculture subversion subversive surreal surrealism tech-industry technology unique-characters vancouver video-game-development video-game-industry video-games work work-culture workplace workplace-comedy workplace-culture workplace-dynamics workplace-humor workplace-satire