Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture.
Coupland illuminates the nineteen eighties by utilizing characters Andy, Clair, and Dag to construct a literary portrait of their generation. The job market, consumerism, and literary terms each contribute to identifying the 1980s generation that came of age. Generation X presents the post baby boomer generation who lost the "genetic lottery- causing job dissatisfaction, baby boomer resentment, and the search for something different.
Dag's story illustrates the X generation job market headed by those such as his boss, which Dag explains "Now, Martin, like most embittered ex-hippies, is a yuppie, and I have no idea how you're supposed to relate to those people."" Dag furthers yuppie classification as, "Dickoids like Martin who snap like wolverines on speed when they can't have a restaurant's window seat in the nonsmoking section with cloth napkins- (21). As his story continues in the chapter titled "Quit Your Job- Dag reflects baby boomer resentment but first he explains to Dickoid Martin, "Well, if I'm going to quit anyway, might as well get a thing or two off my chest."" Following Dickoid's (Martin) astonished response Dag asks, "do you really think we enjoy hearing about your brand new million-dollar home when we can barely afford to eat Kraft Dinner sandwiches in our own grimy little shoe boxes and we're pushing thirty? A home you won in a genetic lottery, I might add, sheerly by dint of your having been born at the right time in history? You'd last about ten minutes if you were my age these days, Martin- (21). This story is especially important because it displays separation in occupational potential between the superior baby boomers vs. the inferior X generation. Most importantly Dag is unsatisfied with his job therefore providing an important aspect of his generation.
Another important theme in Coupland's novel is consumerism or advertising/marketing each of which defines the nineteen eighties generation.
