21st-century 21st-century-society absurd absurdism absurdist absurdist-fiction absurdity addiction adventure advertising alternative-lifestyles art artificial-intelligence artistry avant-garde black-comedy black-humor blackberry-addiction boredom canada canadian canadian-author canadian-authors canadian-fiction canadian-literature character-driven coding comedy coming-of-age computer-games 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 cultural-commentary cultural-critique cultural-references cultural-satire cyberspace cynicism dark-comedy dark-humor digital-age digital-culture digital-media douglas douglas-coupland drama drugs dysfunction dysfunctional dysfunctional-families dysfunctional-family dysfunctional-relationships dystopian eccentric-characters entertainment-industry escapism existential existential-crisis existentialism family family-dynamics family-relationships fiction friendship gaming gaming-culture gaming-industry geek geek-culture geeks gen-x generation-x generational-divide globalization high-tech humor humorous identity identity-crisis indie-culture individualism internet internet-culture irony isolation jpod literary-fiction literature marketing media media-influence metafiction mid-life-crisis millennial millennial-culture millennial-generation millennials modern-life modern-society nerd-culture nerds nerdy nerdy-humor neurotic-characters nihilism novel offbeat office office-culture office-dynamics office-life office-politics pastiche personal-identity pop-culture pop-culture-references pop-references post-modernism postmodern postmodern-fiction postmodern-literature postmodernism postmodernity programming protagonist quirky quirky-characters realisminmotionpictures realitytelevisionprograms rebellion relationships sarcastic satire satirical self-aware self-awareness 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-satire software-development subculture suburban-life subversion subversive surreal surrealism tech-industry technology technology-addiction television televisionbroadcasting unconventional unconventional-narrative urban-life vancouver vancouver-island video-game video-game-development video-game-industry video-games wit work work-culture workplace workplace-comedy workplace-culture workplace-drama workplace-dynamics workplace-humor workplace-satire young-adult