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Lucy Kellaway
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In Office Hours Kindle Edition

by Lucy Kellaway (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.9 out of 5 stars 88 ratings
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Kellaway's keen observations on the way in which affairs move from state-to-state are a masterclass on office love, bringing to life both the excitement of illicit romance and the ridiculousness of business behavior

Stella and Bella are two intelligent working women who each fall for impossible lovers—at work. 

Equal parts intelligent, funny, moving, and agonizing, In Office Hours will resonate with any woman who has ever worked in an office—or been in love. Kellaway hits a real nerve with her depictions of how people come to get into the emotional messes that we do—and how very difficult it is to get out again.
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  1. Print length
    333 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Grand Central Publishing
  4. Publication date
    January 5, 2011
  5. File size
    3.0 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Two women on other sides of a generational divide fall into ill-advised workplace romances in British business journalist Kellaway's latest water-cooler romp (after The Real Office). Twenty-something single mother Bella and married 40-something exec Stella slide down the slippery slope from self-deluded temptation ("it's just a fantasy," says Bella of her attraction to her balding, philandering boss, James) to slow dancing around the photocopier, as Stella dreams she does with her boyish, working-class Welsh crush. Of course, disaster looms for all involved, and while the stories sometimes take on the predestined feel of case studies, Kellaway manages a consistently funny tone as her characters handle romantic fallout in generation-appropriate fashion and confirm what they already know: too often, it's the woman who pays the price. (Feb.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Office romance is alive and well at Atlantic Energy, a global oil company based in London. Although petroleum products are no longer the fuel du jour, romantic adventures are enjoying a prominent place on the corporate agenda. Take Stella Bradberry, for example. One of the few female executives at AE, she is quickly moving up the corporate ladder. Despite a cushy salary, a husband of 20 years, and two children, she finds herself embroiled in a passionate affair with her 20-year-old assistant, Rhys. And then there is Bella Chambers, a young single mother who works as a personal assistant at the company and is having an affair with her high-stakes-player boss, James. As these relationships move toward their inevitable conclusions, readers are given a front-row seat to the urgent e-mails, the frantic text messages, and the growing anxiety of two hardworking women who have lost control over their lives and themselves. In Office Hours is a smart, funny, head-shaking look at the shady side of the corporate street and the behavior of those who inhabit it. --Carol Gladstein

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0047Y17MK
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Grand Central Publishing; 1st edition (January 5, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 5, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.0 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 333 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 out of 5 stars 88 ratings

About the author

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Lucy Kellaway

Lucy Kellaway

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Lucy Kellaway is an English writer and teacher. For over twenty years, she was an observer of the peculiarities of corporate culture in her column for the Financial Times, before retraining as a teacher. She is a co-founder of the educational charity Now Teach and lives in London.

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
88 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Diane Vallere
    5.0 out of 5 stars What Happens in the Boardroom Stays In the Boardroom--not!
    Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    I loved this book. Everything about it: cover to ending. I started reading it yesterday, put it down to go to bed last night and got up twice during the night to keep reading. At times it had a "Working Girl" feel about it, maybe the environment of office politics and secret affairs. At one point I thought the ending might be predictable, but I was happily surprised to see that it wasn't. I highly recommend it!
    One person found this helpful
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  • Deborah
    4.0 out of 5 stars Working Affairs
    Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2011
    I normally do not like reading books about infidelity. Marriage vows are something that I take very seriously and I do not like seeing them treated lightly. However most of the time media shows affairs from either the man's point of view or the woman who is being cheated on. The role of the woman who is involved in the affair is not normally seen. She is normally made out to be the instigator and the villain of the whole situation as the man is usually forgiven and taken back by the wife. This book takes two affairs from the woman doing the cheating's point of view which gives the story a unique premise.

    Stella and Bella (though couldn't the author have chosen two names that didn't rhyme?) are at different stages in their life and in different positions at their shared place of work. However they both have one thing in common. Each is having an affair with someone at work. For Stella, a married woman with children, she is the executive having an affair with her young assistant Rhys (love that name). Bella is a single mother in an assistant position having an affair with her married supervisor.

    There aren't any really likable characters in the book pretty much because I don't approve of what anyone is doing. But neither do I really hate anyone. I rather feel sorry for both women because they must have been in such emotional lows in their life to have to give in to their feelings in this way. From everything Stella mentions about her family, she seems to have a really good life. Her job is doing well, her family is doing well yet she still feels the need to find affection somewhere else. Bella however has no one and instead finds it in a man who is using his wife's depression as an excuse to cheat on her. What did bother me about this situation is how he wanted it both ways and then pretty much degrades Bella.

    Overall, I enjoyed the writing and the story. Like I said, I don't endorse infidelity but I was fascinating by the stories of these two women and how they chose to handle their situations. It's also very interesting to see the behind the scenes side of how a professional company like theirs is run. This isn't a light read but it does make for a good beach read.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Stephen_CY1973
    5.0 out of 5 stars What I particularly liked was how the book reflected the many facets of ...
    Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Couldn't put this book down. What I particularly liked was how the book reflected the many facets of the modern workplace: office politics, manager-subordinate relationships, power, office communications, diversity and affairs between co-workers. The book does an excellent job in exploring the conflicts arising from the pursuit of adventure, fulfilment and happiness from romantic relationships in the office, while at the same time not putting careers (and marriages) in jeopardy.
    One person found this helpful
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  • NYC Mom
    5.0 out of 5 stars For Lucy Kellaway Fans
    Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2018
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    I will read anything she writes
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  • Mary Gramlich
    4.0 out of 5 stars There is no free ride in life but this book takes you on an interesting trip
    Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2011
    At some point your misdeeds do catch up to you and regardless of whether you try to cover them up someone will find out. Office relationships at best are tricky when unmarried men and women become involved but when there are spouses involved and nosey co-workers it is not going to end well.

    This book is told from the perspective of Stella a rising star in the company who can't balance her work and personal life. She blames each one for taking her away from the other and punishes everyone including herself for her failures. But when she enters into a relationship with her intern the situation goes from bad to ballistic. He is young and feels that she now owes him and he does not want love as a payment.

    The other voice you hear is Bella a single mom who did believe she was balancing everything and that her promotions were due to her skill not her ability to keep the boss satisfied in bed. She loved him and he deceived her and while she thinks throwing everything off for him is worth it he does not.

    You absolutely can have it all you just can't have it all at the same time, something has to give in your life and filling the void with a relationship that is nonsustainable never goes well for anyone. Stella and Bella are great characters and strong women who know when to walk away but still have trouble saying no. They are seeking a fantasy that does not exist in the real world and it about tore their existence apart.

    This is a well written book that shows the raw and utter devastation that can happen when relationships go bad. So many are hurt, lives are never recovered and reputations ruined and the question always remains - for what?
    7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Suzie
    5.0 out of 5 stars Realistic and absorbing
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 15, 2010
    Verified Purchase
    Two women, two office affairs, and the accompanying euphoria, deceit, lies and heartbreak - end of story. Except that this book is so much more. It's about women's place in modern society, about love, passion, and self-destruction; and it reflects the harsh truth that a woman's job probably suffers more than a man's when an affair is exposed.

    The two stories are told in alternating, punchy, chapters, some lasting only a couple of pages, others somewhat longer. It's fast moving, up-to-date and life-like. People communicate by e-mail and text and listen to music on i-Pods. Stella is approaching the zenith of her career. Straightforward and honest, she is a high-flyer in an oil multinational based in London, married, and a mother of two, the ultimate multi-tasker skilfully juggling her disparate roles. Bella is young, pretty, intelligent, and a PA in the same company. As a single mother, she struggles to bring up her daughter Millie with no help from the child's father.

    For a while I found the short bursts rather disjointed, shallow, even, and began to wonder if the book was going to be the sort of grown-up chick-lit that's not to my taste, but I needn't have worried. It's detailed, thoroughly absorbing, well-written, soul-searching, and a brilliant analysis of two very different affairs that begin and progress in two very different ways, and of the sometimes devastating consequences.

    Of the two women, Stella is the better developed character, someone you feel you might have met and can empathise with. Bella is less likeable (in my view, at least) and as a result I had less sympathy for her. She seemed to me the sort of predatory woman that many forty and fifty-something wives dread, although I'm sure wouldn't agree - and nor might other readers. That's just how she struck me. Having said that, the affair would probably have happened even without Bella fast-forwarding it.

    I like the author's style. It's perceptive, punchy but fluent, laced with occasional flashes of humour. The chemistry between the women and their unlikely lovers is brilliantly portrayed, but there are no explicit sexual scenes. Contrary to my initial misgivings this was definitely a five-star read for me.
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  • Ellen
    5.0 out of 5 stars Tolles Buch!
    Reviewed in Germany on October 9, 2015
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    Spannend von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite! Die beiden Affären sind so realitätsnah beschrieben, dass man den Eindruck bekommt, dass es aus dem Büroalltag gegriffen ist.
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  • SE1Reader
    4.0 out of 5 stars Crackling prose from Lucy Kellaway
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 28, 2010
    Verified Purchase
    I am an avid reader of Lucy Kellaway's FT columns and laughed all the way through Who Moved My Blackberry, so I bought In Office Hours without hesitation...and also without bothering to see what it was about. I was surprised to find that I had picked up a book about office affairs and confess that my heart sank a little. But no need to worry - no-one skewers the inanities and frustrations of working life like Lucy Kellaway and that incredibly keen insight and razor sharp wit is all there. A well crafted page turner, if you've ever worked in an office there will be something here for you. Thoroughly recommended for a little light relief - would make for a fun summer holiday read.
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  • D. R. Armour
    3.0 out of 5 stars Not Her Best
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 19, 2010
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    Falls very short of her other books.

    Although she gets some of the pettiness and weirdness of human life, she falls into assumption traps.

    Like CEOs are brilliant, and graduates are savvy and smart.

    Not at all real world.

    I found the helplessness of moth to a flame attitude to crummy relationships a bit nauseating.

    The dialogues often came over as unreal, especially from Rhys.

    I did read to the end, but with itchiness to just leave it.
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  • Yasmine
    5.0 out of 5 stars Account of two different women conducting love affairs at work
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 1, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Account of two different women conducting love affairs at work. As pure entertainment it's well-written and funny. If you are that way inclined, you may wonder at the gender messages and Kellaway's view of affairs at work. According to her, people who have affairs will lose their jobs instantly - surely not a true reflection of modern working life. The women are all fairly pathetic characters: needy, insecure and wishing to be rescued or rejuvenated by having men lavish attention on them. The funny parts mainly revolve around the seedy reality of the affairs and the wishful thinking/delusions of those involved, e.g. a child at a work party exclaiming: "You are the man who lost a sock in my mum's bed room!" (paraphrased). If you enjoy Lucy's columns and podcasts, you'll love this book.
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