The Art Of Asking Your Boss For A Raise, a previously untranslated novel by OuLiPo author Georges Perec, is just released from Verso, and with it comes an online game to help you hone this art.

“Darkly funny, never before published account of the office worker’s mindset by celebrated novelist.”

A long-suffering employee in a big corporation has summoned up the courage to ask for a raise. But as he runs through the coming encounter in his mind, his neuroses come to the surface: What’s the best day to see the boss? What if he doesn’t offer you a seat when you go into his office? And should you ask that tricky question about his daughter’s illness?

You can try to navigate these difficult decisions for yourself at www.theartofaskingyourbossforaraise.com …

An acute and penetrating vision of the world of office work, as pertinent today as it was when it was written in 1968.  As Harry Mathews said, “For Perec, writing was a kind of salvation. It was justification by works.”