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 business canada canadian canadian-author canadian-authors canadian-fiction canadian-literature celebrity-culture character-driven comedic comedy coming-of-age computer-games computer-programmers computer-programming computers consumer-culture consumerism contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature contemporary-satire 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 drugs dysfunction dysfunctional dysfunctional-families dysfunctional-family dysfunctional-relationships dystopian eccentric-characters entertainment-industry escapism existential existential-crisis existentialism family family-drama family-dynamics family-relationships fiction friendship gaming gaming-culture gaming-industry geek geek-culture geeks gen-x generation-x generational-divide globalization human-relationships humor humorous identity identity-crisis indie-culture individualism innovation intergenerational-conflict internet internet-culture irony isolation jpod literary-fiction literature marketing media media-and-entertainment media-influence metafiction mid-life-crisis millennial millennial-culture millennial-generation millennials modern-life modern-society nerd-culture nerds nerdy nerdy-humor nerdy-protagonist neurotic-characters nihilism novel offbeat office office-culture office-dynamics office-life office-politics personal-identity pop-culture pop-culture-references post-modernism postmodern postmodern-fiction postmodern-literature postmodernism programming protagonist quirky quirky-characters reality-tv rebellion relationships sarcastic satire satirical self-aware self-awareness self-deprecating-humor self-discovery self-identity self-reference self-referential self-reflection self-reflexivity sitcom slacker slacker-culture social-commentary social-criticism social-critique social-satire software-development subculture subversion subversive surreal surrealism tech-industry techno-geeks technology technology-addiction television unconventional unconventional-narrative unconventional-storytelling unique-characters urban-life vancouver video-game video-game-development video-game-industry video-games wit work work-culture workplace workplace-comedy workplace-culture workplace-dynamics workplace-humor workplace-satire young-adult