"Working Class Zero" by Rob Payne. [review - radio script]

Abstract

"Working Class Zero", which has just been published in Australia, is set in Canada. Jay Thompson, the first person narrator and main character, at 30 is working in a bank in Toronto. This is not normally a job thought of as working class, but, as he explains, “This is the factory of the new millennium, the new working class, where industrious drones keep track of other people’s wealth as it accumulates.” Jay gets promotions which amount to more responsibility with no more money – “HMS Trust, a multi-billion dollar institution, one of the most successful trust companies in the country, can’t pay the shareholders if we don’t all take a hit.”

This novel is apparently a sequel. Rob’s web page tells us of an earlier book, "Live by Request", not yet published in Australia, describing the career of Jay’s rock group. Members of the group are characters in the new novel, and there is the possibility of a revival at the end, so perhaps there is another sequel to come.