1990s 90s 90s-culture 90s-nostalgia adventure ambition artificial-intelligence aspirations bill-gates blogging canadian-literature career career-development career-transitions character-driven code coding comedy coming-of-age communication competition computer computer-culture computer-engineers computer-games computer-industry computer-programmers computer-programming computer-science computer-software computers contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature corporate corporate-america corporate-culture corporate-driven-society corporate-environment corporate-life corporate-world coupland creative-writing creativity cult culture digital-age digital-lifestyle digital-media digital-revolution dorky-humor dot-com-boom dot-com-era douglas douglas-coupland drama emotional-intelligence employees engineering entrepreneurial-spirit entrepreneurialism entrepreneurship escapism existentialism exploration father-son-relationships fiction founders friendship friendships futurism gaming geek geek-culture geek-humor geekdom geeks geeky-humor gen-x generation-x hacker-culture happiness human-connection humor humorous identity identity-crisis innovation internet internet-boom internet-culture internet-revolution introspection introspective isolation life-at-a-tech-company life-in-the-1990s love love-and-relationships mental-health microserfs microsoft microsoft-campus microsoft-culture microsoft-employees mid-life-crisis millennial millennial-generation modern-life modern-society modern-workplace multitasking nerd nerd-culture nerds nerdy-humor novel office-culture office-drama office-dynamics office-life office-politics online-communities personal-computers personal-growth personal-identity personal-relationships pop-culture pop-culture-references postmodern-literature postmodernism programmer programmers programming programming-languages psychological-thriller quarterlife-crisis quirky realism. reality-vs-virtual-reality relationship relationships romance san-francisco satire satirical search-for-meaning seattle self-discovery self-discovery. silicon-valley social-awkwardness social-change social-commentary social-dynamics social-interaction social-isolation social-media social-networking social-relationships societal-pressures software software-developers software-development software-engineering software-engineers software-industry start-up start-up-company start-up-culture start-ups startup startup-culture startups storytelling success teamwork tech-culture tech-industry techno-thriller technology technology-industry unconventional-career video-games virtual-reality web-development work-culture work-life work-life-balance workaholic workplace workplace-challenges workplace-comedy workplace-culture workplace-dynamics workplace-hierarchy workplace-productivity workplace-satire young-adults