Working Class Zero

"Think Nick Hornby or even Roddy Doyle…adds a much-needed rebel yellto…CanLit."

¾ Eye Magazine

"What a hoot! Quirky and original…"

¾ Will Ferguson, author of Happiness

"…a surprisingly heartfelt book."

¾ Quill & Quire

Thus begins 30-year old Jay Thompson’s tale of life in Corporate Purgatory.From the individual production modules (a.k.a. cubicles), KGB-stylereceptionists, and inept bosses with Rod Stewart hair, life has never been easyat HMS Trust’s head office.

Things are about to get a lot worse.

Thanks to his "high accuracy" assessment (which took the employmentagency all of one hour to complete), Jay lands the biggestpromotion-with-out-pay in his life – as the reluctant head of a chaotic callcentre full of temps, at peak season.

Enter young Samantha, a temp with more flirtatious energy than Helena BonhamCarter. And of course Jan, Jay’s longtime live-in girlfriend (a second-yeardoctoral student majoring in English Literature/Antisocial Neglect of Her LifePartner); best friend Tyler (dispenser of suspect advice, part-timeRingo Starr impersonator); brother Sheldon (armed with a major life-changingannouncement); and psychotic parents Jim and Sharon, who take bitterrecrimination to all-star levels.

What we get is an honest, wickedly funny and ruthlessly disenchanting look atlife, love, and middle management in the Age of the Corporation.

ROB PAYNE is the author of Live by Request and Working Class Zero. The former editor of Quarry magazine, he has edited two anthologies of Canadian short fiction, Carrying the Fire and Pop Goes the Story. His writing has appeared in such publications as Canadian Fiction magazine, Zygote and Front & Centre. He has also written for the sketch comedy troupe What's On Tap?  Rob Payne has lived in Ottawa, Yokohama and Perth, and recently returned to Toronto.