2026 International Book Awards Finalist in Humor/Comedy/Satire

"The meeting had been a huge success, and there was no reason to focus on something insignificant like the fact that nothing was really accomplished."

Government employee Ace is trying to do good work and basically survive at his agency, despite a slew of efficiency mandates that actually make his job less efficient and put more personnel at risk for layoffs. When, in a moment of honesty, he expresses his frustration with the new counterproductive initiatives, he's pushed into an "intervention." As part of his remediation, he must keep a journal to, in theory, help him be more appreciative. But instead, it gives him an outlet for his honest opinion on all the happenings-and people-in the office. And when he is unexpectedly thrust into a supervisory role, Ace learns that the only thing worse than working in a flawed bureaucracy may be trying to fix it.

Presented as a series of Ace's journal entries, Average Civil Employee pulls no punches as it critiques ill-conceived approaches to make the government more efficient. This satirical novel will have you laughing out loud at the absurd situations-and the reality-of Aces everywhere.