How To Survive from Nine To Five

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How To Survive from Nine To Five
How To Survive from Nine to Five by Jilly Cooper.jpg
First edition cover
Author Jilly Cooper
LanguageEnglish
GenreNon-fiction, satire
PublisherEyre Methuen
Publication date
1970
Publication placeUK
Preceded by How To Stay Married  
Website https://www.jillycooper.co.uk/books/how-to-survive-from-nine-to-five/

How To Survive from Nine To Five is a 1970 book by English author Jilly Cooper. The humorous book draws on Cooper's experiences of working in offices, prior to her writing career. The book was described by journalist Veronica Groocock as "an amusing picture of traditional office hierarchy".

Contents

Background

The books draws on Cooper's experiences in the 27 office jobs she had prior to working as a full-time journalist. [1] It was serialised in the Liverpool Echo. [2] [3]

Reception

Upon publication the Hull Daily Mail described it as a "breezy little book" full of useful advice, in Cooper's "imitable style - wit and wisdom tempered with just a little malice". [4] The Vancouver Sun reviewed the book in 1971, highlighting the range of office-related topics it covered, such as interviews, memos, management consultants and the Office Christmas Party. [1] The Sydney Morning Herald described how it "gave a very awful picture of the facts of office life", again drawing on multiple examples from the text. [5]

The book was republished in 1988, along with its companion volume How To Stay Married . [6] A Western Daily Press reviewer described how it had "dated less" than the latter and that it was still witty, but that it was written in an era "where women are subservient". [6] A review in the Reading Evening Post described how the book would make a good stocking-filler, and that the stereotypes within it were still apt, although the 'office deb' described in 1970, would in 1988 be the 'office yuppie'. [7] Excerpts from the book are included in her 1990 writing collection Angels Rush In. [8]

Analysis

The book was described by journalist Veronica Groocock as "an amusing picture of traditional office hierarchy". [9] It has also been cited in research into office culture, for example on how to write a memo, [10] and quoted in works on management. [11] [12]

References

  1. 1 2 Barling, Ann (1971-01-30). "Survival in the mad, mad memo world". The Vancouver Sun. p. 32. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  2. ↑ "How to survive from nine to five". Liverpool Echo. 1970-12-08. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  3. ↑ "Xmas Eve in the workhouse". Liverpool Echo. 1970-12-14. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  4. ↑ "The office - how to beat it!". Hull Daily Mail. 1970-12-05. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  5. ↑ Flanagan, Joan (1971-02-27). "Office wiles". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 17. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  6. 1 2 Reid, Helen (5 December 1988). "Second time around ...". Western Daily Press. p. 8.
  7. ↑ "From nine to five - with Jilly Cooper". Reading Evening Post. 19 December 1988. p. 10.
  8. ↑ Pile, Stephen (1990-03-31). "Scantily covered". The Daily Telegraph. p. 59. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  9. ↑ Groocock, Veronica (1988). Women Mean Business. Ebury. p. 68. ISBN   978-0-85223-672-7.
  10. ↑ Maggio, Rosalie (2001-09-01). How To Say It. Penguin. p. 280. ISBN   978-1-101-21551-7.
  11. ↑ Horn, Jack (1992). Manager's Factomatic. Prentice Hall. p. 68. ISBN   978-0-13-562927-7.
  12. ↑ Cole, Kris (2018-09-01). Leadership and Management: Theory and Practice. Cengage AU. p. 785. ISBN   978-0-17-040385-6.
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