1990s 90s 90s-culture 90s-nostalgia adventure african-american african-american-culture african-american-experience african-american-identity african-american-literature african-american-protagonist alienation ambiguity ambition american-dream american-history american-identity american-literature artificial-intelligence assimilation betrayal bildungsroman black-culture black-experience black-identity black-literature blindness brotherhood career character-driven civil-rights civil-rights-movement coding comedy coming-of-age competition computer computer-culture computer-industry computer-programmers computer-programming computer-science computers conformity contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature corporate-culture corporate-life corporate-world coupland creativity cultural-assimilation cultural-heritage cultural-identity digital-age digital-revolution discrimination disillusionment dot-com-era double-consciousness douglas douglas-coupland dystopia empowerment entrepreneurship equality escapism exile existentialism exploration fiction freedom friendship friendships geek geek-culture geeks gen-x generation-x hacker-culture harlem harlem-renaissance humor humorous identity identity-crisis individualism individuality inequality injustice innovation internet internet-boom internet-culture introspection invisibility invisibility-metaphor invisible invisible-identity invisible-man isolation jazz jazz-music loss love marginalization microserfs microsoft millennial millennial-generation modern-life modernism narrator nerd nerd-culture nerds novel office-culture office-life office-politics oppression personal-freedom personal-growth personal-narrative personal-relationships philosophy politics pop-culture pop-culture-references postmodernism power power-dynamics power-struggle prejudice programmer programmers programming protagonist protest quest race race-relations racial-discrimination racial-identity racial-inequality racial-stereotypes racism ralph-ellison relationship relationships resistance satire search-for-meaning seattle segregation self-discovery silicon-valley social-commentary social-criticism social-dynamics social-equality social-inequality social-injustice social-justice social-media society software software-development software-engineering software-engineers software-industry southern-united-states start-up start-up-culture start-ups startup startup-culture startups stereotypes subversion success surrealism symbolism tech-industry technology technology-industry the-american-dream underground urban-life video-games virtual-reality white-supremacy work-culture work-life-balance workaholic workplace workplace-culture workplace-dynamics workplace-satire