Inane chat and bad coffee

Following the exploits of the dull but career-minded Mr Johnson as he starts out on his new job, we soon embark upon a journey through corporate culture that's initially funny but which quickly becomes nightmarish.

Hardly a barrel of laughs himself, Johnson comes across as positively humane compared to the shallow, hypocritical and occasionally downright nasty characters that he soon begins to meet.

With everybody hiding behind a language borne out of one too many pep talks, seminars and presentations, it's very much a place in which everyone is busy, but nothing really ever gets done.

People only claim responsibility for past achievements rather than anything happening in the here and now and no-one ever really knows what anyone else is doing.

Despite the stress on the importance of communication, empty desks, crashed computers and unanswered e-mails and phones are the norm.

Real figures of authority, if, in fact, there are any, keep a majestic distance between themselves and the plebs.

Totally cut off from the outside world, the endless corridors and overcrowded, overheated offices full of inane chatter and bad instant coffee will be familiar to many, so it's probably best not to read this book on the way to work.

No company can be this bad, surely? Although, on second thoughts...

STEVE ANDREW