A Note from the Editors

Bosses usually aren’t very funny—at least not when it’s your boss standing in front of your desk with eyes and mouth ablaze. But start telling boss jokes with your friends on a casual Saturday evening, and the laughter can shake the house.

Truth is, the workplace can be absurd, goofy, ridiculous, and sometimes, really fun. After all, there are so many opportunities for crazy things to be said and done—in job applications, meetings, speeches, customer complaints, and coffee breaks.

Reader’s Digest has been sharing laughs about the work world in our magazine pages for decades. Now we’ve gathered the funniest of the funny into one volume. In the pages ahead you’ll find hundreds of our most hilarious jokes, cartoons, and real-life experiences about all things work. You may wonder if someone really wrote that in their résumé, or said that in a meeting, or encountered such a customer in their store. Then you’ll pause and say, “Sure!” because we’ve all witnessed something just like it.

What makes laughter the best medicine is its ability to erase stress, change negative moods to positive, and put the craziness of life into a bigger, happier perspective. All this is particularly true when it comes to work. So come Monday morning, when your boss is heading your way, keep these jokes in mind and smile. Because life is too short for anything else.