Slabrat by Ted Heller

Slabrat by Ted Heller is wicked satire of office politics is based on his experience of work at magazines such as Vanity Fair. The title is a slang term for high rise office workers, Think 9-5 with Dolly Parton or the Devil wears Pravda if you want to place its genre. The novel plots all the insane office status power politics and then some you have ever experienced

It follows the life of Zach an associate editor who is stalled at the stage in his career of either rising or falling. His best friend is falling and his work colleague has just lifted off. The problem is that he is lazy and wont do the brown nosing needed to get ahead apart from sleeping with what ever boss (female) he can. He is also a complete fake- not a Harvard rich kid but someone from the sticks. In the superficial world of IT this is a death warrant should it come out.

A new associate editor arrives who soon starts working the system and raises so causing panic. They start fight back with all the underhand tricks you can imagine. At the same time his love life is torn between lust, love and ambition and three different women.

Its fall of comic moments and a character list of truly appalling people that you feel must be based on real characters and you hope they read the book. Don’t expect the ending you may think but it’s the one Zach would have wanted.

Strongly recommended as a wonderful dark and oh so true depiction of office politics at its worse and describes what you would like to do…come on admit it you would.