Extension du domaine de la lutte

Whatever (French: Extension du domaine de la lutte, literally "extension of the domain of struggle") is the debut novel of French writer Michel Houellebecq, which was published in 1994 in France by Éditions Maurice Nadeau and in 1998 in the UK by Serpent's Tail. It primarily highlights the "disaggregating effects of post-Fordism on the intimate spaces of human affect" through the story of a depressed and isolated man stuck in a tedious but well-paying programming job. It was adapted into the 1999 film Whatever, directed by and starring Philippe Harel.