Several People Are Typing · A Novel · A Novel

A work-from-home, comic tour-de-force that takes place entirely in a PR firm's Slack channels--a strange digital landscape where an employee claims to be literally trapped inside. For fans of Office Space , Then We Came to the End and Severance. And anyone who has ever struggled with an emoticon.

Gerald, a mid-level employee of a New York-based public relations firm, has been uploaded into the company's internal Slack channels--at least his consciousness has. His colleagues assume it's just an elaborate ploy to exploit their lax work-from-home policy, but now that his productivity is through the roof, they are only too happy to indulge him.

Disembodied and alarmed by the looming abyss of an eternity on-line, Gerald enlists his co-worker Pradeep to find out what happened to his body and help him escape. As Gerald plunges deeper into the surprisingly expansive Slack landscape, he finds an unlikely ally in Slackbot, Slack's AI assistant, who helps him navigate his new digital reality.

Meanwhile, the team's real-world problems are in danger of snowballing out of control. Top client Bjärk dog food might be poisoning Pomeranians across the country; someone is sabotaging the boss's office furniture; Tripp and Beverly are breaking the unspoken rule against office romances; and the incessant howling of wild dogs is starting to drive Lydia insane. Also: Why is Slackbot so interested in Gerald? And what in the hell does the :dusty-stick: emoji mean?

Hilarious, irreverent, and wholly original, Calvin Kasulke's Several People Are Typing is a satire of both corporate and contemporary life, and a perfect antidote to the way we live now.