# Any realistic fiction books about white collar professionals? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** hbomax-wb-dc\ **Created:** [August 28, 2024, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-realistic-fiction-books-about-white-collar-professionals/1006347 "2024-08-28T05:01:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-realistic-fiction-books-about-white-collar-professionals/1006347/1 "2024-08-28T05:01:23Z")
I was watching Industry on HBO, which is about a group of graduates working for an investment bank. It reminded me about the pressures of working as an attorney when I first started at my law firm. Every graduate in the show has to struggle to cope with the high pressure environment. The only other TV show I can think of that is similar is Mad Men about the advertising industry in the 1950s. All the lawyers shows on TV are very unrealistic. Everyone is remarkably emotionally stable and no one is doing lines of coke to get through the day. Are there any books that are similar to the TV show Industry? About white collar professionals struggling to deal with the high pressure of working in their industry? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-realistic-fiction-books-about-white-collar-professionals/1006347/2 "2024-08-28T05:13:01Z")
The late [Stanley Bing](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=stanley+bing&crid=8N71EHL1U0V1&sprefix=stanley+bing%2Caps%2C141&ref=nb_sb_ss_pltr-sample-20_2_12) wrote both fiction and nonfiction about workplace dramedy. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-realistic-fiction-books-about-white-collar-professionals/1006347/3 "2024-08-28T13:11:38Z")
It’s an old example, and not very high pressure, but science fiction/fantasy/mystery author Fredric Brown once wrote a very straightforward fictional novel called **The Office** (1958) about life in a business office. It was based on his own experiences in such an environment, but isn’t really autobiographical. But it’s definitely a novel about white-collar professionals. [https://www.amazon.com/Office-60th-Anniversary-Fredric-Brown/dp/1720161895](https://www.amazon.com/Office-60th-Anniversary-Fredric-Brown/dp/1720161895) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-realistic-fiction-books-about-white-collar-professionals/1006347/4 "2024-08-28T14:09:37Z")
As a realistic depiction of life in a high-pressure law office, James Joyce’s 1914 short story [“Counterparts”](http://www.online-literature.com/james_joyce/957/) still holds up. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-realistic-fiction-books-about-white-collar-professionals/1006347/5 "2024-08-28T19:44:08Z")
John Grisham is pretty well known for legal thrillers.