MANILA, PHILIPPINES – At some point, many of us have encountered the creeping fog of burnout -an overwhelming fatigue that no amount of sleep or caffeine can cure. The weight of endless emails, Zoom fatigue and the monotony of corporate life can drive even the most resilient professionals to the brink.
When life begins to feel like a relentless loop of work and worry, sometimes the most therapeutic act isn’t checking out completely but cracking open a novel that echoes your own silent struggles. Enter the burnout novel: a genre of fiction that captures the exhaustion, absurdity and quiet rebellion against the systems that wear us down.
Here are nine deeply cathartic reads from Fully Booked that don’t just reflect burnout: they offer a sense of solidarity and, sometimes, a path toward healing. Whether laced with satire, introspection, or radical reinvention, these novels remind us that we’re not alone in feeling frayed at the edges.
1. Counterattacks at Thirty by Sohn Won-Pyung
Jihye’s life is unremarkably bleak: a dead end internship, dismissive bosses and the daily soul crushing rhythm of corporate drudgery. But when a fellow intern sparks a quiet uprising against their oppressive workplace, Jihye begins to reimagine her role in the system. Brimming with dry humor and pointed critique, this novel is a must read for millennials feeling adrift in modern office life.
2. Discontent by Beatriz Serrano
Marisa, a disillusioned middle manager in advertising, embodies the quietly simmering burnout familiar to many professionals. Behind her seemingly successful life lies a deep malaise, one marked by morning tears, existential dread and daydreams of escape. Serrano’s biting wit and pitch black humor cut through the glossy veneer of corporate life with refreshing honesty.
3. Severance by Ling Ma
In this prescient novel, publishing assistant Candace Chen clings to routine as a global pandemic sweeps New York. Even as society crumbles, she keeps showing up to the office until she’s one of the last employees standing. Ling Ma’s genre blending debut deftly satirizes late capitalism, immigrant identity, and modern alienation, all under the guise of a zombie apocalypse.
4. The Quiet Ones by Glenn Diaz
Set in the pulsating chaos of Metro Manila, Diaz’s novel follows Alvin, a call center agent ensnared in a scheme to embezzle money. As the tension escalates, The Quiet Ones offers a blistering look at capitalism, corruption and the crushing grind of survival in the postcolonial Philippine workplace. A gritty, urgent read for anyone who’s ever questioned the value of the 9 to 5.
5. Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum
Yeongju does what many only fantasize about – she quits her job and opens a bookshop in a quiet town. There, she begins to rebuild her life, rediscovering joy in solitude and community. Soft and meditative, this novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes the path to healing begins by stepping away from everything.
6. There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura
After a nervous breakdown, a woman embarks on a series of “easy” jobs from surveillance work to writing ads that mysteriously vanish. Each role peels back another layer of disillusionment with modern work culture. Tsumura’s novel is both absurd and astute, portraying burnout not just as exhaustion, but as an existential crisis.
7. The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe
Long before Sex and the City, Rona Jaffe chronicled the lives of ambitious women navigating careers and love in 1950s New York. While the novel reflects its era’s norms, it was revolutionary in its time, offering an early portrait of professional women yearning for more than what society allowed. A cult classic and feminist touchstone worth revisiting.
8. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
A literary masterpiece that explores the inner turmoil of a young woman grappling with societal expectations and mental health. Plath’s singular novel remains a poignant, unflinching examination of ambition, depression, and identity. Though set in the past, its resonance remains painfully current.
9. The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
Part workplace satire, part thriller, Harris’s debut follows Nella, the only Black employee at a New York publishing house until a new Black girl is hired. What begins as hopeful camaraderie turns dark and suspenseful, revealing the insidiousness of tokenism, office politics and microaggressions. A razor-sharp look at navigating professional spaces as a woman of color.
