Wrong Way

In Joanne McNeil's debut novel, a woman cornered by capitalism lands her dream job as a driver for a driverless car company.

For years, Teresa has meandered from one job to the next, settling into long stretches of time, unable to move ahead in any field or career, the dreaded move from one gig to another starting to feel unbearable. When a recruiter connects her with a contract position at AllOver, it appears to check all her prerequisites for a “good” job. It’s a fintech corporation with progressive hiring policies and a social justice-minded mission statement. Their new service for premium members: a functional fleet of driverless cars. The future of transportation. As her new-hire orientation reveals, the distance between AllOver’s claims and its actions is wide, but the lure of financial stability and a flexible schedule is enough to keep Teresa driving forward.

Joanne McNeil, who often reports on how the human experience intersects with tech, brings all of her compassion and criticism about labor and technology to Wrong Way. In this thought-provoking, fresh, and humane novel, she captures the existential perils imposed by a nonstop, full-service gig economy, and exposes the toll of corporate calculations on the human spirit.