,

Fiction dedicated to characters embroiled in the ennui, absurdity, hopelessness, or outright criminal activity of a faceless capitalist corporation or obstructionist government bureaucracy.

By the way, the title of this list comes from a satirical Gospel style song (written by Nigel Russel, performed by Canadian folk legend Stan Rogers) about this very issue.
1

by
4.20 avg rating — 5,435,559 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
3.99 avg rating — 885,409 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
3.59 avg rating — 258,443 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
4.02 avg rating — 4,529,824 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
3.90 avg rating — 1,417,069 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
3.99 avg rating — 2,070,748 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
4.07 avg rating — 638,342 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
3.94 avg rating — 393,442 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
3.56 avg rating — 1,052 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
3.81 avg rating — 267 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
4.15 avg rating — 2,411,653 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
3.74 avg rating — 6,874 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
3.89 avg rating — 337,043 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
4.20 avg rating — 778,791 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
3.69 avg rating — 443 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
3.67 avg rating — 15,715 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
4.18 avg rating — 641,623 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
3.88 avg rating — 112,102 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
3.87 avg rating — 18,496 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
3.94 avg rating — 41,027 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
3.94 avg rating — 13,115 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
3.69 avg rating — 24,821 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
3.91 avg rating — 75,238 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
3.80 avg rating — 360,978 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
3.91 avg rating — 63,067 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
3.56 avg rating — 102 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.77 avg rating — 13 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
3.88 avg rating — 479 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
3.78 avg rating — 41,740 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
3.61 avg rating — 6,080 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
3.77 avg rating — 202,518 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
4.17 avg rating — 56,644 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
4.02 avg rating — 114,023 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
4.06 avg rating — 446,722 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
3.51 avg rating — 10,073 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
3.98 avg rating — 96,030 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
3.93 avg rating — 93,312 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
4.21 avg rating — 113,830 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
3.87 avg rating — 9,985 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
3.99 avg rating — 10,070 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
3.92 avg rating — 86,954 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
3.60 avg rating — 1,193 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
3.06 avg rating — 158 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
4.19 avg rating — 47 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
2.89 avg rating — 5,219 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
3.46 avg rating — 36,468 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
3.61 avg rating — 789 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
3.97 avg rating — 2,824,077 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.09 avg rating — 511,116 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
3.54 avg rating — 8,595 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
3.95 avg rating — 46,647 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
3.67 avg rating — 6 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
3.89 avg rating — 24,596 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
3.88 avg rating — 3,750 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
3.33 avg rating — 6 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
3.72 avg rating — 9,857 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
3.58 avg rating — 544 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,231 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
3.40 avg rating — 12,540 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
3.83 avg rating — 30,896 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
3.97 avg rating — 38,725 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
3.71 avg rating — 20,319 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
4.26 avg rating — 10,191 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
3.63 avg rating — 6,171 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
3.19 avg rating — 79 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
3.93 avg rating — 5,511 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
3.98 avg rating — 673 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
3.87 avg rating — 3,433 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.73 avg rating — 3,976 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.47 avg rating — 6,466 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.22 avg rating — 18 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.28 avg rating — 132 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.74 avg rating — 19 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.19 avg rating — 293 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.30 avg rating — 10 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.35 avg rating — 94 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.58 avg rating — 655 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.15 avg rating — 156 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.74 avg rating — 830 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.93 avg rating — 28 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.72 avg rating — 90 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.78 avg rating — 400 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.35 avg rating — 51 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.15 avg rating — 115 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.05 avg rating — 22 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.88 avg rating — 165,424 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.16 avg rating — 112 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.11 avg rating — 44 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.43 avg rating — 223 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
3.93 avg rating — 388 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
3.23 avg rating — 4,628 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
4.40 avg rating — 138 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
4.41 avg rating — 135,495 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
4.33 avg rating — 9 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
2.50 avg rating — 2 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
4.05 avg rating — 77 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
3.88 avg rating — 5,694 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
3.55 avg rating — 281 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
128 books · 96 voters · list created November 5th, 2011 by Ben (votes) .
33 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Ben 1082 books
70 friends
Caitlin 1125 books
45 friends
Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) 546 books
365 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3386 books
851 friends
Bettie 15676 books
19 friends
Laura 13063 books
316 friends
The Pirate Ghost 1282 books
155 friends
Robert 4229 books
751 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-14 of 14 (14 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Bettie (last edited Jan 08, 2012 12:45PM) (new)

Bettie

And here is the song - brilliant!

Thanks


message 2: by Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) (last edited Jan 08, 2012 12:45PM) (new)

Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Bettie wrote: "And here is the song - brilliant!"

Woo-hoo! (And how did I know you of all people would be sure to find it?!)


message 3: by Bettie (new)

Bettie

Played it through twice just to catch the words - haven't we all been like that in our time. Funnily enough, don't miss it at all.


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) "... hauling up the data on the Xerox line ..." ;)

(Can't speak from personal experience as far as that particular bit is concerned, but yeah, the general drift of the song sounds mighty familiar!)

I also love the bit about "making love to your woman at 10:53" ...


message 5: by Bettie (new)

Bettie

yes - 10:53 was the bit that made me chuckle *looks at watch* - he'll be a bit tied up in a minute or so


message 6: by Ben (last edited May 22, 2012 07:59AM) (new)

Ben Glad you're both getting a kick out of it. I love this song and am a big Stan Rogers fan in general.


message 7: by Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) (last edited Jan 09, 2012 07:04AM) (new)

Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) BTW -- I'm assuming this is a list for "real world of today" books mostly, right? No 1984 and the like?

ETA: Or, for that matter ... Dilbert?!


message 8: by Ben (last edited May 22, 2012 07:59AM) (new)

Ben Themis-Athena wrote: "BTW -- I'm assuming this is a list for "real world of today" books mostly, right? No 1984 and the like?"

No, that's fine... I think there are already some dystopian novels on this list.


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) OK. Added, then ...


message 10: by Bettie (new)

Bettie [image error]


message 13: by Bettie (new)

Bettie

hahaha - Dilbert is sometimes the only way to see it through to GAME OVER at 5p.m.


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Would that it WERE "game over" at 5pm ...


back to top



Related News

  Here at Goodreads World Headquarters, we sort through a lot of books each month. Our monthly Readers' Most Anticipated Books feature is...

Anyone can add books to this list.