Turn of the Century

by Kurt Andersen

First published 1999

George MacTier produces reality TV shows that blur the line between entertainment and actual police work. His wife Lizzie runs a tech company developing cutting-edge video games. When media mogul Harold Mose courts Lizzie for business advice after her Microsoft deal collapses, George watches his professional and personal worlds collide. His latest show gets canceled while Lizzie travels internationally with the charismatic Mose. George stays home with the kids, consumed by jealousy and suspicion, tracking his wife online through spy cameras. Their separate career trajectories become entangled in a web of corporate schemes, technological pranks, and high-society networking. The story builds to a frantic climax involving computer hacking, financial fraud, and an unexpected diving accident. Through these interconnected crises, George and Lizzie must navigate the absurdities of millennial culture and rebuild their fractured marriage in a world where personal and professional boundaries have dissolved.

Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary, technology, 21st-century, family-drama

Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking

Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fractured-marriage, personal-professional-boundaries, unreliable-narrator

Setting: Microsoft

Period: Turn of the Century

Audio Cassette · Random House Audio

More by Kurt Andersen

Readers who liked Turn of the Century also liked

View on Siftivo