Review: Jennifer Government

CW: Mass shooting

Jennifer Government by Max Barry (2003)

This was my third re-read of Jennifer Government—the first time was in 2003, while it still had the NEW sticker on it at the library, and the second was ca. 2013, after successfully tracking down “the sci-fi book with a green eye on the cover”.

Jennifer Government is a near-future science fiction satire set in a world where “capitalizm” reigns supreme. “Capitalizm” is like normal capitalism, but taken to an extreme. Companies like Mattel and McDonald’s sponsor schools (good luck getting an education if your parents can’t get you into one of them!), and the Government can’t investigate crimes unless the victims’ families are able to compensate investigators for their services. Corporate loyalty programs (like US Alliance and Team Alliance) battle for customers (literally, in some cases!) and have the power to stop people from boarding their flights (i.e., you can’t board a US Alliance member flight if you’re a member of Team Alliance, and vice versa).

In this world, a person’s surname is determined by where they work—thus, we have characters with names like Jennifer Government, Hack Nike, Buy Mitsui, Billy NRA, and Hayley McDonald’s. If you do volunteer work or hold multiple jobs, your surname gets hyphenated, like Georgia Saints-Nike). If you’re unemployed, you have no surname at all. (When I was an impressionable young person reading Jennifer Government for the first time, I thought this treatment of surnames was a FASCINATING idea, because it means you’ve got no ties to your actual familial heritage—which was mind-boggling to me, given some of the family stories I grew up with about my own surname)

The actual world itself is divided up into economic blocs dominated by the United States, which has absorbed the English (sorry, “American”)-speaking world, all of Latin America (except for Cuba), Oceania, most of Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, India, and Russia. Unlike today’s European Union, the European Union of Jennifer Government‘s world includes literally every European country. (Remember, at the time Jennifer Government was published, the European Union as we know it was only 10 years old.)

Jennifer Government begins innocuously enough: Hack Nike goes to the water cooler at work, encounters two men from a different department (both named John Nike), and agrees to help out with a new marketing campaign.

It’s too late for Hack to back out when, after signing a contract without reading it, Hack learns that he’s expected to commit murder: One of the Johns Nike is the VP of Marketing, and to spike sales of the new Nike Mercury shoes, he wants Hack to shoot 10 people at the Nike store in the mall (thus demonstrating that the shoes are in such high demand that people are willing to kill for them, which will in turn artificially increase demand). Horrified, Hack takes the matter to the police… who then offer to be his subcontractor for the assassinations. He accepts, not expecting the cops to further subcontract out the murders to the NRA.

Jennifer Government receives a tip about the impending shooting and goes to the mall to catch the would-be-assassin, only to realize that she’s been paying attention to the wrong person. She chases the assassin, only to fall off the upper level of the mall and onto a car below. Solving the mystery behind this mass shooting has become personal for Jennifer. As soon as one of the victims’ parents confirm that they will sell their house to pay for the investigation, she takes off in pursuit of justice (and perhaps a little vengeance).

As the story progresses, readers learn about Jennifer’s pre-Government past, when she was a corporate rockstar, as well as her work-life balance struggles as she juggles work and single parenting her daughter. Through the eyes of Jennifer Government, Hack Nike, VP John Nike, Buy Mitsui, Haley McDonald’s, Billy NRA, and Violet Enterprises, we uncover a vast conspiracy—and a personal vendetta—that threatens to disrupt the world order as our protagonists know it by completely eliminating the Government once and for all for the sake of corporate profits.

To quote VP John Nike (from Jennifer Government): “Look, I am not designing next year’s ad campaign here. I’m getting rid of the Government, the greatest impediment to business in history. You don’t do that without a downside. Yes, some people die. But look at the gain! Run a cost-benefit analysis! Maybe some of you have forgotten what companies really do. So let me remind you: they make as much money as possible. If they don’t, investors go elsewhere. It’s that simple. We’re all cogs in the wealth-creation machine. That’s all. I’ve given you a world without Government interference. There is now no advertising campaign, no intercompany deal, no promotion, no action you can’t take.”

On this third re-read, I found Jennifer Government to be an increasingly prescient (if dystopian) work of science fiction. Barry’s narrative style reminds me of a cross between Michael Crichton and Cory Doctorow, and much of the story’s action takes place in Australia. The story pacing is a little uneven past the midway point—I felt like the narrative dragged a little around the 2/3 mark, but it picks up again during the last 1/4 of the book and delivers a satisfying conclusion. If any publishers are reading this review, I humbly suggest reprinting Jennifer Government—it hasn’t been in print since 2003 or 2004 (although there have been several audiobook editions issued around 2007-2009, and thankfully there are physical copies available around the world via public libraries and resellers).

I’d recommend Jennifer Government to anyone looking for a dark satirical take on the extremes of capitalism. No matter how bad you may feel like our own capitalist society is right now, the “capitalizm” of Jennifer Government reminds us that things could be a LOT worse. Though Jennifer Government herself isn’t a perfect person, she fights for justice with steadfast determination—despite the odds are absolutely stacked against her. With Jennifer Government, Barry reminds us to do what’s right and fight for justice even when it feels like the rest of society has given up on fundamental fairness.

PS: If you’re intrigued by the world of Jennifer Government, check out NationStates.net! It’s a free game Barry created as a spin-off of Jennifer Government that allows users to create their own nations and run them however they want (with plenty of satire, of course!).