# Discontent

By Beatriz Serrano

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/discontent-a7499bb3/

Marisa has a management job at a Madrid advertising agency and a carefully maintained reputation for competence. She spends much of her day avoiding colleagues and actual work. A compulsory retreat threatens to expose how little lies behind the performance.

## What makes it funny?

During an opening Zoom meeting, Marisa watches a raccoon eat birthday cake while her colleagues discuss a campaign. Asked for a deadline, she proposes one she knows they will reject, then graciously offers the date she had planned all along.

### The comedy at work

Serrano gives Marisa a precise account of her own evasions: invented vacation chatter, thoughtful-looking questions and solemn notebook consultations. The office rewards these gestures, and Marisa knows exactly how to supply them. Her participation keeps the satire from letting her off the hook.

### Try this if…

For readers who recognize the rituals of pointless meetings and enjoy a caustic narrator who is implicated in what she despises. Expect to spend considerable time with her dissatisfaction; that sustained resentment is part of the appeal and may also be tiring.

### Good to know

Mara Faye Lethem translated the Spanish original. Drug use, sex, suicidal thinking and the aftermath of a colleague’s suicide give the office comedy a dark context.

## What to expect

- Genre: Contemporary & literary
- On the shelf: Workplace comedy
- Kind of humor: Dark comedy · Dry wit · Satire
- Format: Novel
- Length: 192 pages
- Audiobook: 5 hr 18 min
- Published: 2023

## A few distinguishing details

- A manager who excels at appearing productive
- Advertising jargon and online distraction
- A compulsory company retreat

## Sources & further reading

- Review: [The Skinny review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/book-reviews/discontent-by-beatriz-serrano)
- Publisher: [Publisher](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/776051/discontent-by-beatriz-serrano)
- Reading sample: [Publisher sample](https://cdn.penguin.co.uk/dam-assets/books/9781787305090/9781787305090-sample.pdf)
- Book information: [Apple Books audiobook](https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/discontent-a-novel-unabridged/id1791244968)