1990s 21st-century 90s 90s-culture 90s-nostalgia absurd absurdism absurdist absurdity addiction adventure ambition anxiety artificial-intelligence aspirations black-comedy black-humor canada canadian-author canadian-literature career character-driven class coding comedy coming-of-age comparison competition computer computer-culture computer-industry computer-programmers computer-programming computer-science computers consumerism contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature corporate-culture corporate-life corporate-world counterculture coupland creativity cultural-criticism cultural-critique culture dark-comedy dark-humor digital-age digital-revolution dot-com-era douglas douglas-coupland drugs dysfunction dysfunctional dysfunctional-families dysfunctional-family eccentric-characters engineering entrepreneurship escapism existential-crisis existentialism exploration fame family family-dynamics fear fiction friendship friendships fulfillment gaming geek geek-culture geeks gen-x generation-x generational-divide hacker-culture happiness humor humorous identity identity-crisis inequality innovation insecurity internet internet-boom internet-culture introspection isolation jpod literary-fiction love materialism media metafiction microserfs microsoft millennial millennial-generation millennials mindfulness modern-life nerd nerd-culture nerds novel office-culture office-dynamics office-life office-politics personal-growth personal-relationships philosophy philosophy-of-life pop-culture pop-culture-references postmodern postmodern-literature postmodernism programmer programmers programming psychology quirky quirky-characters relationship relationships satire satirical search-for-meaning seattle self-awareness self-discovery self-esteem self-help self-improvement self-referential self-reflection self-worth silicon-valley social-class social-commentary social-comparison social-dynamics social-hierarchy social-isolation social-media social-status societal-expectations societal-norms societal-pressure societal-pressures society sociology software software-development software-engineering software-engineers software-industry start-up start-up-company start-up-culture start-ups startup startup-culture startups status status-anxiety subversion subversive success surreal surrealism tech-industry technology technology-addiction technology-industry unconventional vancouver video-game-industry video-games virtual-reality wealth work-culture work-life-balance workaholic workplace workplace-comedy workplace-culture workplace-dynamics workplace-humor workplace-satire