Review: Company By Max Barry

Last night I finished the unabridged audio version of Company by Max Barry. It was humorous (in an Office Space sort of way) and somewhat thought-provoking, though I’m not sure I agree with the book’s message.
The story surrounds recent college graduate Stephen Jones’ entry into corporate America by hiring on with a company called Zephyr holdings. At first Zephyr seems like your typical corporation. Huge. Endlessly bureaucratic. Replete with all of the absurdities that go with running any large enterprise by committee. But soon Jones learns that there are some strange things going at this company. Like the fact that nobody seems to know what the company actually does or the fact that nobody has actually seen the CEO. I can’t give away too much more without ruining some surprises in the story, but rest assure that the premise is both unique and entertaining.
One thing I didn’t like about the book is the way it describes employer/employee relationships. The book is clearly meant to present a commentary on the way big-business treats employees, yet in the way the book presents the problem of employee mistreatment you get the idea that the only way to solve it is by replacing management, forcibly or otherwise. Maybe this is just the capitalist in me speaking, but I wonder why none of the characters in the book simply seek employment elsewhere if they’re so unhappy with where they’re currently at?
Yet this is something a lot of people concerned over labor relations don’t get. Rather than using free labor market pressures to bring about changes in corporate management (if a company can’t attract employees they will “sweeten the deal” until they do) unions and others want to use things like strikes, lawsuits and laws to enact change. I just don’t think that’s right. Companies should be free to hire employees on their own terms, just as employees are free to accept or decline employment on their own terms.
But that is just a small distraction from what is otherwise a fine story. I actually expected more anti-big-business rhetoric given what I’ve heard about Barry’s other book Jennifer Government but was pleasantly surprised when he didn’t let his political views dominate the book. I am now actually looking forward to getting my hands on Jennifer Government so that I can read that as well.