21st-century 21st-century-society absurd absurdism absurdist absurdist-fiction absurdity addiction adventure advertising alternative-lifestyles art artificial-intelligence black-comedy black-humor boredom business canada canadian canadian-author canadian-authors canadian-fiction canadian-literature character-driven comedy coming-of-age competitive-gaming compulsion computer-programmers computer-programming computers consumer-culture consumerism contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature contemporary-society corporate corporate-culture corporate-life corporate-world counterculture coupland creative-writing creativity cubicle-life cultural-critique cultural-references cyberspace cynicism d dark-comedy dark-humor digital-age digital-culture digital-media disillusionment douglas douglas-coupland drugs dysfunction dysfunctional dysfunctional-families dysfunctional-family dysfunctional-relationships dystopian eccentric-characters entertainment-industry escapism esports existential existential-crisis existentialism family family-dynamics family-relationships fiction friendship game-design gamer-culture gaming gaming-addiction gaming-communities gaming-culture gaming-psychology geek geek-culture geeks gen-x general generation-x generational-divide generational-satire globalization humor humorous identity identity-crisis indie-culture indie-music individualism internet internet-culture irony isolation jpod life-in-the-digital-age literary-fiction literature media metafiction mid-life-crisis millennial millennial-culture millennial-generation millennials misfit-protagonists modern-life modern-society multiplayer nerd-culture nerds nerdy nihilism novel offbeat office office-culture office-drama office-dynamics office-life office-politics online-gaming pastiche personal-identity pop-culture pop-culture-references post-modernism postmodern postmodern-fiction postmodern-literature postmodernism programming protagonist quirky quirky-characters reality-tv rebellion relationships satire satirical self-aware self-awareness self-deprecating-humor self-discovery self-identity self-reference self-referential self-reflection self-reflexivity sitcom slacker slacker-culture smart-comedy social-commentary social-criticism social-critique social-interaction social-satire software-development subculture subversion subversive surreal surrealism tech-industry technology technology-addiction television unconventional unconventional-narrative unique-characters urban-life vancouver video-game video-game-development video-game-industry video-games virtual-reality wit work work-culture workplace workplace-comedy workplace-culture workplace-dynamics workplace-humor workplace-satire young-adult