Andy, Dag and Claire are in their twenties. Dissatisfied with society’s structures and expectations, they move to the Californian desert looking for new beginnings and more meaningful lives. To survive, the three get McJobs – “low-pay, low-prestige, low-dignity, low-benefit, no-future jobs in the service sector” – only finding solace in each other’s company and storytelling.
This is the plot of Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, the first novel by Canadian writer and artist Douglas Coupland. Published 30 years ago, Generation X went on to become a cult text and helped to popularise the term “X” for those born between the mid-1960s and the early-1980s.