We spend much of our lives at work - but surprisingly little gets written about what makes work both one of the most exciting and most painful of all our activities.
 
The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work is an exploration of the joys and perils of the modern workplace, beautifully evoking what other people get up to all day - and all night - to make the frenzied contemporary world function. With a philosophical eye and his characteristic combination of wit and wisdom, Alain de Botton leads us on a journey around a deliberately eclectic range of occupations, from rocket science to biscuit manufacturing, accountancy to art - in the name of exploring what makes our jobs either fufilling or soul-destroying.
 
Along the way de Botton skilfully raises the big questions we all tend to ask of our work: What should I do with my life? How can I combine earning money with attaining fulfilment? What will I have achieved by the end of my career?
 
The book amounts to a celebration and investigation of something as central to a good life as love - but which we often find remarkably hard to reflect on properly. As de Botton points out, most of us are still working at jobs chosen for us by our sixteen-year-old selves. Here, then, is a perfect guide to some of the most vicious anxieties and enticing hopes thrown up by our progress through the working world.