Lab Rats: Why Modern Work Makes People Miserable

(Paperback, Main)

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Guardian's Best Non-Fiction, 2019
The Tablet's Highlights of 2019

Personality tests. Team-building exercises. Forced Fun. Desktop surveillance. Open-plan offices. Acronyms. Diminishing job security. Hot desking. Pointless perks. Hackathons.

If any of the above sound familiar, welcome to the modern economy. In this hilarious, but deadly serious book, bestselling author Dan Lyons looks at how the world of work has slowly morphed from one of unions and steady career progression to a dystopia made of bean bags and unpaid internships. And that's the 'good' jobs...

With the same wit that made Disrupted an international bestseller, Lyons shows how the hypocrisy of Silicon Valley has now been exported globally to a job near you. Even low-grade employees are now expected to view their jobs with a cult-like fervour, despite diminishing prospects of promotion. From the gig economy to the new digital oligarchs, Lyons deliciously roasts the new work climate, while asking what can be done to recoup some sanity and dignity for the expanding class of middle-class serfs.

Reviews

Fascinating, thought-provoking, hilarious and sometimes harrowing. * Gretchen Rubin, bestselling author of The Happiness Project *
A lively and spirited takedown... Its core argument is surely irrefutable. * Guardian *
Entertaining * The Economist *
Lyons is very funny journalist... Much of his polemic rings true. * Financial Times *
Lab Rats defies easy description. I sputtered laughing and choked crying (literally, not figuratively) as I read it. Yes, Lyons gives Silicon Valley the thrashing that it, alas, largely deserves. But in the final third of the book, he offers us an effectively illustrated way out - an approach to work and business that puts people first. * Tom Peters, bestselling author of In Search of Excellence *
Entertaining... A worthwhile and disturbing read. * Sunday Business Post *
Funny and frightening. * The Sunday Post *
Skewering corporate jargon, management science and, worst of all, enforced fun, Lyons' waggish jeremiad lays out how the world of work has changed for the worse. * Tatler *
Laugh-out-loud funny * Newsweek on DISRUPTED *

Author Bio

Dan Lyons is an author, journalist, and screenwriter. He has co-produced and written for the HBO series Silicon Valley, was technology editor at Newsweek and was the creator of the groundbreaking viral blog 'The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs' (AKA 'Fake Steve Jobs').