Reviewed by Ankita Shukla for Readers’ Favorite

B.S., Incorporated by Jennifer Rock and Michael Voss is a book steeped in the corporate world. B.S., Incorporated is a company that excels in the Copier and Office Supplies business. They have divided their huge pool of employees into two categories: the Rainmakers and the Promisekeepers. An employee who works in a warehouse role is a Promisekeeper. The rest of the population in corporate are known as Rainmakers. Will Evans, a communications director, believes in maintaining harmony between the Rainmakers and the Promisekeepers. He believes that they both must be considered each other’s counterparts. However, the fate of the company hangs by a thread when the CEOs decide to sell this part of the company and shift their focus to becoming a market leader in Optelligence. Will has been handed the task of creating the best communication plan to achieve a smooth transition. With the CEOs’ unwillingness to share a detailed insight into the meaning, scope, and other tidbits about Optelligence, Will is facing a hard time finishing the assigned task. To add to his troubles, an over-ambitious new employee, Anna, has been added to his team. Something deep inside of him knows that his task is not going to be easy, and he must do everything in his power to ensure that the Promisekeepers do not feel left out while B.S., Incorporated is shifting gears.

B.S., Incorporated offers a fully fledged forensic report of the corporate world. The tone of the book remains light-hearted although many sensitive topics are touched upon, like the HR policies, useless documentation, late-night work culture, a cut-throat competition, a lack of trust among the employees, and the tendency of higher management to send lower management to convey their bad news to employees. Any corporate employee would easily be able to connect with the plot and the sentiments of the authors.

The loyalty of Will challenged today’s "save your own ass" professional philosophy, while Anna’s style reminded me how the true corporate world works. Bennie, from the Public Relations department, acted as a swear bombarding machine and managed to keep the overall theme upbeat. Corporate politics, surprising twists, and a variety of emotions kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. As a reader, I had never imagined that a book based on office politics would intrigue me, but, here I was, hooked till the last page.