1990s 20th-century 90s 90s-culture 90s-nostalgia adventure ambition artificial-intelligence bill-gates blogging canadian-author canadian-literature career career-transitions character-driven code coding comedy coming-of-age competition computer computer-bugs computer-culture computer-engineers computer-industry computer-programmers computer-programming computer-science computer-software computers consumerism contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature corporate corporate-america corporate-culture corporate-driven-society corporate-environment corporate-ladder corporate-life corporate-lifestyle corporate-world coupland creative-writing creativity data digital-age digital-media digital-revolution disillusionment dot-com-boom dot-com-bubble dot-com-era douglas douglas-coupland drama dystopian-fiction east-coast-west-coast-divide employee-satisfaction employees engineering entrepreneurial entrepreneurial-spirit entrepreneurialism entrepreneurship escape escapism existentialism exploration fast-paced father-son-relationships fiction friendship friendships gaming geek geek-culture geek-humor geeks geeky-humor gen-x generation-x generational-divide hacker-culture hackers hacking human-connection human-relationships humor humorous identity identity-crisis individuality information-technology innovation innovation-culture internet internet-boom internet-culture internet-revolution introspection introspective isolation it-industry life-balance life-in-the-1990s life-in-the-tech-industry lifestyle loneliness love mental-health microserfs microsoft microsoft-campus microsoft-culture microsoft-employees millennial millennial-generation millennials modern-life modern-society nerd nerd-culture nerds office-culture 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 quirky relationship relationships romance satire satirical satirical-critique search-for-meaning seattle self-discovery silicon-valley social-awkwardness social-commentary social-dynamics social-interaction social-isolation social-media social-networking societal-critique societal-pressures software software-developers software-development software-engineering software-engineers software-industry start-up start-up-company start-up-culture start-up-life start-ups startup startup-culture startups storytelling success tech-industry techno-thriller technology technology-addiction technology-driven-society technology-industry video-games virtual-reality vulnerability work-culture work-life work-life-balance workaholic workaholism workplace workplace-culture workplace-dynamics workplace-hierarchy workplace-satire young-adult young-adult-fiction young-adults