Project Gutenberg 2008-08-01 Public domain in the USA. 98 Slesar, Henry 1927 2002 Leslie, O. H. Mitchell, Clyde Jarvis, E. K. The Success Machine Produced from Amazing Science Fiction Stories January 1960. Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net "The Success Machine" by Henry Slesar is a satirical science fiction novella written during the late 1950s. It presents a futuristic corporate environment centered around a machine called the Personnelovac, designed to evaluate employees and streamline the hiring and firing process. The main topic of the book explores the consequences of over-reliance on technology and the effects of mechanical decision-making on human resources. The story follows Ralph Colihan, a personnel manager at General Products, as he grapples with the unexpected and brutal efficiency of the Personnelovac, which often produces "pink cards" recommending employee dismissals based on its cold, analytical results. As the number of firings escalates, Colihan begins to question the machine's infallibility and the implications of its lack of human touch. The tension builds as he worries about becoming the machine's next victim. Ultimately, the story culminates in a poignant revelation about the dangers of relying solely on mechanistic evaluations that fail to account for human nuances, leading to Colihan's eventual dismissal as he becomes a casualty of the very system he has operated within. Through humor and irony, Slesar critiques the depersonalization of corporate culture and the inherent flaws of allowing machines to dictate human fates. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 79.9 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Science fiction, American PS Text Science Fiction Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Humour Category: Novels Category: American Literature 51588 2025-07-11T04:15:56.793547 text/html 47979 2021-01-03T22:40:37 text/html 140712 2025-07-11T04:16:00.620550 application/epub+zip 139459 2025-07-11T04:15:58.420566 application/epub+zip 84997 2025-07-11T04:15:57.329552 application/epub+zip 306400 2025-07-11T04:16:02.173546 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 298384 2025-07-11T04:15:59.937544 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 151051 2022-09-12T08:21:38.624626 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 44501 2025-07-11T04:15:56.534555 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 44375 2021-01-03T22:40:37 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 55991 2008-03-21T18:39:00 application/octet-stream 1847368 2008-03-21T18:39:00 application/octet-stream 75362 2008-03-21T18:39:00 application/octet-stream 72013 2008-03-21T18:39:00 application/octet-stream 70387 2008-03-21T18:39:00 application/octet-stream 74150 2008-03-21T18:39:00 application/octet-stream 69489 2008-03-21T18:39:00 application/octet-stream 71914 2008-03-21T18:39:00 application/octet-stream 72855 2008-03-21T18:39:00 application/octet-stream 70890 2008-03-21T18:39:00 application/octet-stream 68990 2008-03-21T18:39:00 application/octet-stream 67871 2008-03-21T18:39:00 application/octet-stream 52485 2008-03-21T18:39:00 application/octet-stream 20205 2025-07-11T04:16:02.296505 application/rdf+xml 13682 2025-07-11T04:15:57.800550 image/jpeg 3629 2025-07-11T04:15:57.563556 image/jpeg 74296 2021-01-03T22:40:37 application/octet-stream application/zip 17203 2021-01-03T22:40:37 application/octet-stream application/zip 140177 2025-07-11T04:15:56.801542 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia