从以家庭为中心的自给自足的农业社会到现今以大规模生产为中心的工业社会，工作的性质已经发生了根本变化。人们聚集在远离家庭的大工厂、大公司和门类繁多的政府部门里，同事之间的关系变得越来越重要。随着西方国家进入后现代社会，服务业或第三产业日益成为经济生活的中心，高科技手段的普遍应用使工作性质又一次发生了巨变。在同一间办公室，人们被"囚禁"在一个个格子间里，既不能随便出去，相互间也很少沟通，大多数工作是通过电话、电脑和传真来完成的。只有老板能够随意走动，有效地监控着雇员。想必在这样的环境下工作，大多数人一定会觉得非常郁闷。《上班一条虫》反映的正是后现代社会上班族的喜怒哀乐，相信电影里形形色色的人物，我们在自己的办公室里都能看到他们的影子。

　　Peter, Michael, Tom, and Samir work for a company named

　　Initech. As the daily routine of the office is getting increasingly

　　boring, they often dream about a free and relaxing life for a millionaire. Peter has been dating a girl called Anne, but recently he is suspicious of her since she's not keen on going out with him. Peter's friend and next-door neighbor Lawrence also tells him that he has a feeling that Anne is cheating on1 him.

　　In the office, Peter, whose job is to update bank software, is often distracted by the office operator2 Nina's mechanical voice repeating the same words and also by the radio of a timid old routine-work employee named Milton who "is allowed" to listen to it at a reasonable volume from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. As a result of all these annoying noises, Peter forgets to hand in his T.P.S. report in time one day.

　　The next morning, Peter is assaulted by repeated criticisms from one boss after another. In addition, they all fax him the same memo3 on the matter. What is worse, it is rumored that Initech is going to hire some efficiency experts to help downsize4 the company. When the manager introduces the consultant to everyone, all the employees begin to worry about their jobs. Who will stay? And who has to go? No one is sure of the result. On Friday afternoon, Peter finishes everything and is about to leave quietly when his boss Bill Lumbergh spots him and asks him to come to work on Saturday.

　　In the evening, Peter goes to Dr. Swanson for hypnotherapy5 as insisted by Anne. Dr. Swanson tries to lull Peter into hypnosis so that he can forget all the troubles, but the doctor drops dead during the session. While everyone present panics and calls the ambulance, Peter suddenly realizes something. He laughs to himself and walks out of the clinic as if nothing had happened.

　　The next day, Peter has a nice long sleep and gets up at 3:30 in the afternoon. Checking on his answering machine6, Peter finds 17 messages, all from Lumbergh wondering where he is and urging him to come to office. Soon the phone rings again, it's Anne accusing him of indifference to the death of Dr. Swanson and urging him to go to work. Peter tells Anne that he needs rest and hangs up the phone impatiently. Anne phones again telling him outrageously that their relationship is through and that she has been cheating on him.

　　On Monday morning, while every employee nervously goes to a room to be interviewed by the consultant and his assistant, Peter decides to stop going to work and have some fun instead. In the caf?that he and his colleagues frequent, Peter invites Joanna, a pretty waitress he likes, to have dinner with him. The girl likes his straightforwardness and they have a good time talking about their shared interests in a restaurant.

　　After chatting with Joanna, Peter comes to his office to see what's happening. When the two consultants interview him for a typical day's work, Peter just tells them the truth that he only spends 15 minutes on the real work, and for the rest of the time, he only pretends to work hard. According to Peter, it's not that he doesn't like to work, it's just that he doesn't have the motivation7 since he has eight bosses whose only job seems blaming him if he makes any mistake. The two consultants like Peter, the only guy who tells them what's in his mind face to face.

　　The result of the consultants' investigation comes out, and it is suggested to the management8 that three of the employees have to go. The first is the mumbling9 Milton who was actually fired five years ago but by some mistake has been paid by the financial department from the payroll all the time. The second is Tom, whose job is deemed unnecessary. Then comes Peter, who only uses a fraction10 of the office hours to do the work. However, the consultants have very high regard for Peter's management talent and recommend him to do more important work in the company, to which Lumbergh disagrees strongly.

　　When Peter comes to the company the next morning, the consultants tell him that he is promoted to head the group he works in. Peter is very happy at first. However, his smile freezes when he is told that his best friends Michael and Samir are to be fired because the company doesn't need so many software people.

　　In the evening, Peter, Michael, and Samir go to the pub where Peter reveals the bad news. After some discussion, they decide to quit the company together, but before that they want to revenge on it, Peter and Samir will design the software to transfer a fraction of a penny for each of the company's bank transaction11 into an account they open, and Peter is responsible for releasing this software virus into the company's computer system. In this way, their bank account will accumulate gradually and they will be able to live on it.

　　On the last day in the company, they successfully carry out the plan. Just as they are to leave, one of the guys tells them that Tom had a car accident on his last day to work, but it turns out to be a blessing in disguise12. The story goes like this: depressed Tom decided to commit suicide by choking himself in the garage but was discovered by his wife. Tom changed his mind and decided to go to work for the last day. When he backed the car out of the drive13, a drunk driver hit Tom's car and injured him seriously. Now it is certain that the settlement for the case will bring a seven-digit compensation14 to the paralyzed Tom. They go to see Tom, who is wearing all smiles on the face and tells them that good things can happen if you hang out in a company long enough.

　　Going out in his car with Joanna, Peter tells her their plan about the bank transaction. Joanna tries to stop Peter from doing this for she thinks it's stealing however small the number of the money is. Peter thinks differently. Joanna is unhappy about this.

　　At a party, Peter is told by one of his colleagues that Joanna used to sleep with Lumbergh, which astonished him. On their way home, Joanna starts to persuade Peter to return the stolen money, which annoys him. When Peter brings up the topic about Joanna's sleeping with Lumbergh, Joanna is very angry saying it was two years ago and it's none of Peter's business. The two break up.

　　Peter goes to check the newly opened bank account and is stunned to find the balance of about ,000, much more than what they estimated. Michael admits that he might have put the wrong decimal15 somewhere when designing the software. They try to work out a plan, perhaps to look for a drug dealer to launder16 the money, but no one has any connection with the black market, and it's very dangerous. Finally, Peter decides to return the money to the company in check and attach a confession letter in the envelope. However, he immediately regrets after inserting the envelope into Lumbergh's office from under the door.

　　In the hallway, people are celebrating Lumbergh's birthday. Milton, who stopped being paid a week ago, is also there to help distribute the cake to everyone present. When he finds that he is denied even a piece of cake as one year before, he is very unhappy and mumbling away. He goes to Lumbergh's office to fetch the stapler17 that was taken away rudely a week ago, and happens to see the envelope and picks it up.

　　In the caf? Joanna cannot endure her boss who insists that she wear more than 15 flairs to please the customers and quits on the spot. She comes back to Peter who apologizes to her about his bad manner. When Peter drives to the company, he is shocked to see the building on fire with flames everywhere.

　　Michael and Samir embark on a business of their own, still as software engineers. Peter starts a new job in a construction company. Now he and his colleagues are clearing up the ruins of the burned down company building. Suddenly he sees the stapler that Milton had used for many years and wonders where the guy is.

　　On a beautiful island in Indonesia, Milton is enjoying the sunshine. Now he cansgroupsthe waiters about18 because he has a lot of money.-

　　1. cheat on:对……不忠。

　　2. operator:(电话)接线员。

　　3. memo:备忘录。

　　4. downsize:精简(机构等)，裁员。

　　5. hypnotherapy:催眠治疗(法)。

　　6. answering machine:录音电话。

　　7. motivation:动力，积极性。

　　8. management:管理层，资方。

　　9. mumble:咕哝，含糊不清地说。

　　10. fraction:小部分。

　　11. transaction: (一笔)交易，(一次)转账。

　　12. blessing in disguise:因祸得福。

　　13. drive: (美国)从车库到马路之间的通道。

　　14. seven-digit compensation: 7位数(百万以上)的赔偿。

　　15. decimal:小数(点)。

　　16. launder:洗(黑)钱。

　　17. stapler:订书机。

　　18.sgroupssomebody about:对某人发号施令。

　　Excerpts

　　Slydell and Porter (the efficiency experts hired by the company) Interview Peter

　　Slydell: (Peter comes in) Ah, there you are. We were just talking about you. You must be Peter Gibbons. (Peter Nods casually) Uh-huh. Terrific. I'm Bob Slydell. This is my associate Bob Porter.

　　Peter: Oh, hi, Bob.

　　Slydell: Go ahead. Grab a seat and join us for a minute or two. You see, what we're actually trying to do here... is we're just, we're trying to get a feel... for how people spend their day at work. So if you would... would you walk us through1 a typical day for you?

　　Peter: Yeah.

　　Slydell: Great.

　　Peter: Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late. Uh, I use the side door. That way Lumbergh can't see me. And after that, I just sort of space out2 for about an hour.

　　Porter: Uh, "space out"?

　　Peter: Yeah. I just stare at my desk. But it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too. I'd say in a given week... I probably only do about fifteen minutes... of real, actual work.

　　Slydell: Peter, would you be a good sport... and indulge us and just... tell us a little more?

　　Peter: Oh, yeah. Let me tell you something about T.P.S. reports. Ahh... The thing is, Bob, it's not that I'm lazy. It's that I just don't care.

　　Porter: Don't... don't care?

　　Peter: It's a problem of motivation, all right? Now, if I work my ass off3... and Initech ships a few extra units... I don't see another dime.4 So where's the motivation? And there's something else, Bob... I have eight different bosses right now.

　　Slydell: I beg your pardon?

　　Peter: Eight bosses.

　　Slydell: Eight?

　　Peter: Eight, Bob. So that means that when I make a mistake... I have eight different people coming by to tell me about it. That's my only real motivation, not to be hassled5. That and the fear of losing my job. But you know, Bob... that'll only make someone work just hard enough... not to get fired.

　　Slydell: Would you bear with me for just a second, please?

　　Peter: OK.

　　Slydell: What if ?and believe me... this is strictly hypothetical6 ?but what if you were offered some kind of a stock option... equity-sharing program7? Would that do anything for you?

　　Peter: I don't know. I guess. Listen, I'm gonna go. Uh, it's been really nice talking to both of you guys. Yes. Absolutely.

　　Slydell: The pleasure's all on this side of the table, trust me.

　　Peter: Good luck with your layoffs8, all right? I hope your firings go really well.

　　Slydell: OK. Thanks a lot.-

　　1. walk through:原义为"带……走过场"，此处可译为"说明，描述一下"。

　　2. space out: <美俚>感受致幻毒品引起的欣快；这里指(脑子)开小差。

　　3. work one's ass off:拚命工作。

　　4. I don't see another dime:不会多给我一毛钱。

　　5. be hassled:被打搅，被骚扰。

　　6. hypothetical:假设的。

　　7. stock option... equity-sharing program: (公司给员工)配股分红的做法。

　　8. layoff:解雇(员工)。