PROJECT BOING;)

Robinson’s novel traces a man’s path through a failing tech company that resembles real-life industry news.

Glenn Cregg, senior manager of marketing insights at his company, has a new motto: “Being objective makes me effective.” It’s drivel, but drivel gets you a long way at Boing;), the legacy tech company for whom Glenn provides his marketing insights. Glenn, self-identified as one of those who Gets It, is a true believer in the power, legacy, and potential of the flailing Boing;), an obvious amalgamation of several real-life tech companies that most resembles late-stage Yahoo! in its inane punctuation and unclear business strategy. When Glenn wins a corporate Rockstar Award, he has the opportunity for a special coffee meeting with boss Darryl, an exhausting soi-disant luminary who speaks in cliches and co-opted Black slang. At this seminal caffeination event, Glenn distracts Darryl from aligning the company with a soft-porn juggernaut to pitch his great strategy to revive Boing;): streaming music. Glenn then has to shepherd his idea through a labors of Hercules–like gauntlet of foolish and self-important co-workers, all while managing the iffy mental health and career development of his sole direct report, Jocelyn, who recently collapsed at her desk near an open bottle of pills. To cap it all, an external threat looms: the gimlet gaze of Marian Sallowaskky, a delightfully venomous tech reporter who dominates the ever-fertile “Boing;) is dying” beat.

This book is a gem. The author has set himself the difficult task of writing what is effectively a recent-past historical novel, the early-2010s “Web 2.0” culture many of his readers will remember. His deep knowledge of (and healthy contempt for) the ritualized self-congratulation of corporate America that reaches its fullest expression in tech means every page has an honest laugh line. Glenn is both caricature and Everyman. He’s credulous, well intentioned, and hilariously literal-minded and exists somewhere between the so-called good German and a simple moralistic fool. He always wants to do the right thing, but fatally, he thinks his interests and those of Boing;) align. A particularly delightful example occurs when do-right Glenn stands up to the temptation of an attractive co-worker, allowing Robinson to repurpose the trope of “men writing women’s bodies” to comedic effect: “She had breasts. Definitely breasts you were aware of; she regularly displayed, tastefully, a hint of cleavage, as a little reminder: ‘Breasts are here.’” The action stalls a bit in the middle third—there’s only so much excitement you can generate in an office building—but Robinson’s giggle-worthy prose carries readers through this minor pacing problem with ease. The ending hits the right notes, genuine and ludicrous in a way that allows the reader to leave Glenn feeling that his story has been told. Anyone who’s ever held a corporate job, gritted their teeth through a team-building exercise, or asked themselves who at a tech company would have greenlit such a user-unfriendly experience will enjoy this takedown. Yet readers calling for the guillotine for these tech bros will have to wait for a sharper pen for catharsis: Robinson knows his target too well to imagine real change.

A charming yet chilling skewering of the tech industry that, like all good satire, is one click away from horror.