In Harry Braverman's Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the 20th Century (1974), he discusses the controversial topic of labor and workforce. It also analyzes the degradation of work, which is also shown in the proletarian novel Factotum (1975) by Charles Bukowski. Along with these concepts, Braverman develops boss/worker antagonism, which is directly related to Bukowski's depiction of filling out such degrading jobs. Braverman's most important point is the notion of alienated labor where the boss has complete control over the workers for the better. result. In these situations we see a boss/worker antagonism. This aspect is shown in Factotum in every work done by Chinaski. For example, when he was chipping huge blocks of ice with a hammer, his boss asked him to be the driver so he could get the most out of him. Although Chinaski listens to all of his boss' orders, he somehow manages to do something wrong; for this reason he always ends up getting fired. It does as little work as possible. He doesn't work to the best of his ability. He does not do the work completely and with full interest, which is why he never manages to limit himself to just one job. When he realizes that he desperately needs money, he decides to get serious about finding another job. For example, when his parents forced him to pay for room, board, and laundry, he was forced to work because he was broke. In Factotum, the subjective state of the worker is explicit through Chinaski's daily activities. He leads a very unconventional lifestyle. He has no purpose in life. The only thing that motivates him to work is when he has absolutely no place to stay or especially when he can't afford to drink. Nothing really fazes him or makes him happy. His addiction... half a sheet of paper... had them "all afternoon and half the next morning to put the shelves back" (138). After all, he was the boss and they had no choice but to obey his commands. This refers to alienated work where the boss has complete control over the workplace and extracts as much work as possible from the workers. This scenario supports absolute exploitation because the worker had to work long and tiring hours under unfavorable working conditions. The boss requires hard work for a decent profit and ultimately prospers. This scenario not only represents absolute exploitation, but also how it is degrading work. In this example, we clearly see the antagonistic boss/worker relationship. To conclude, Braverman and Bukowski share similar beliefs regarding capitalism. Braverman's beliefs are all confirmed in Factotum. Chinaski's work experiences verify and support Braverman's theories.