The best fiction books about the real-life experience of living and working online

I was blown away by this book, which beautifully captures the fragmented, jarring experience of being “Extremely Online.” The reader sees the world through the protagonist’s eyes as she scrolls, argues with strangers, and experiences the constant pressure to generate hot takes—especially once an absurd tweet propels her to celebrity.

The book conveys the tension between online interactions (ephemeral, yes, but not necessarily lacking in genuine human emotion) and serious offline issues, like the family tragedy that finally pulls the main character away from the digital fray. I laughed out loud at the over-sharing and performative virtue signaling in the Reddit-like Portal. Haven’t we all encountered “that guy” online?

This book resonated with me on so many levels. I first read it in 2015 while working at a tech company, and the novel gave me the language to express the unease I felt about Big Tech’s relentless push for “transparency” and “sharing,” often at the expense of privacy. In many ways, the book is an argument about trade-offs—the perks of working for a Google-like company versus the torture of being overly connected.

Eggers also offers one of the most accurate portrayals of life as a Silicon Valley tech worker. The overwhelming barrage of pings and constant demands for feedback felt all too familiar. Ultimately, it is both a compelling dystopian thriller and a thought-provoking critique of the tech-driven world we inhabit, raising critical questions about privacy and the cost of innovation.

While this book doesn’t depict today’s internet culture directly, it’s easy to imagine a dystopian future where most people spend their lives in a virtual reality world like the Oasis. As the main character navigates the challenges of this massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), he encounters dilemmas that resonate with today’s internet users: Can you truly trust someone you’ve only met online? How do you compete when others have far more resources?

Though the book is geared toward a young adult audience, its themes hit home for readers of all ages. I’m glad we have stories showing that tech isn’t always a neutral force in society and that retreating into an online space doesn’t solve the larger systemic problems in the world.

What I loved about this book is how beautifully it describes even the mundane details of interacting with the internet—the seconds of delay before your email inbox loads, the microburst of gratification when your tweet gets retweeted. The story follows the main character as he spends the morning procrastinating on his novel, constantly pulled away by Facebook and various internet distractions. 

Be aware that this book has elements of auto-fiction and “writing about writing,” which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, though I found it refreshing. The author brings to life highly relatable experiences—like scrolling through social media on the toilet. The scene itself is all too real, though very rarely portrayed in literature.

This book finally offers representation to the weird and wonderful world of internet fandoms. We all know someone who is passionate about a niche interest, and this book focuses on characters who really love trains and comic books.

The protagonist, Kate, works for the Subconscious Agency, an organization that helps drum up enthusiasm for their clients by interacting with super fans on message boards. I especially enjoyed the plot point where the characters track down an internet troll by noticing some breadcrumbs that he left on his Wikipedia page.

Fair warning: This book might inspire some nostalgia for an era when text-based sites like Reddit had much more sway than the short-form videos dominating today’s platforms.