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Reading tip

Martin Suter, Business Class: In his Business Class column, Martin Suter has invented a new genre. The sharpness of his satirical take on the world of management reveals the former creative director's insider knowledge of the ‘business class’. He knows how men in middle and senior management promote themselves and those around them. Although there is a lot of talk of human resources management and human relations in the stories, they are primarily concerned with something much more intimate: «Self Design» – in other words narcissism. How much time and effort do managers expend on networking, keeping up with trends, getting in with the right circles and choosing an appropriate tie? Above all, they strive desperately, and in vain, to be seen in the right light by their superiors as well as by their subordinates and not to get caught in the no man's land between good humour and respect. They want to be loved, even if it means lying to themselves. Vanity and fear are therefore the engines that keep business moving. «Business Class» is bursting with wit and acuity. The short columns play on clichés and clever punchlines and retain some of those rough edges that have long been polished out of Martin Suter's best-selling novels. (Beat Mazenauer, trans. by Andrea Willfratt)