19th-century 19th-century-literature 21st-century absurdism absurdity addiction advanced-technology adventure african-american african-american-experience african-american-literature alienation allegory alternate-history alternate-reality american-dream american-history american-literature apocalyptic assimilation betrayal bildungsroman black-culture black-experience black-identity blindness british-literature brotherhood canada canadian-literature civil-rights civil-rights-movement civilization class-divide class-division class-struggle classic classic-literature classics comedy coming-of-age computer-programming conformity contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature corporate-culture corporate-life corporate-world counterculture coupland dark-comedy dark-humor digital-age discrimination disillusionment douglas douglas-coupland dysfunctional dysfunctional-families dysfunctional-family dystopia dystopian dystopian-future dystopian-society eloi escapism evolution evolutionary-theory existentialism exploration family family-dynamics fantasy fiction freedom future future-society future-technology futurism futuristic futuristic-technology gaming geek-culture generation-x h.-g. h.-g.-wells h.g.-wells harlem harlem-renaissance human-evolution human-nature human-progress humanity humor identity identity-crisis imagination imaginative individualism individuality industrial-revolution inequality internet internet-culture invention invisibility invisible invisible-man isolation jazz jpod literary-fiction machine metafiction millennial-generation modernism morality morlocks nerd-culture nerds novel office-culture office-life office-politics oppression personal-freedom philosophical philosophical-themes philosophy pop-culture pop-culture-references post-apocalyptic postmodern postmodernism power power-dynamics prejudice programming progress protagonist protest quirky quirky-characters race racism ralph-ellison satire satirical science science-and-technology science-fiction scientific-discovery scientific-exploration scientific-invention segregation self-discovery self-referential social-class social-commentary social-criticism social-critique social-hierarchy social-inequality social-injustice social-justice societal-decay society southern-united-states speculative-fiction stereotypes subversion subversive surreal surrealism survival symbolism tech-industry technological-advancement technological-advancements technology thought-provoking time-dilation time-machine time-manipulation time-paradox time-travel time-traveler underground utopia vancouver victorian victorian-era victorian-literature video-game-industry video-games visionary wells workplace workplace-humor