Player Piano

 Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1952) 320 pages

When one has forgotten a book so completely, especially from an author one has read extensively in the past, it's time to reread the work. In Player Piano, Dr. Paul Proteus is an engineer in charge of a plant in Ilium, New York. In his society, there are specific classes of people: those who test well and become engineers, and those who go into the army or do the drudge work. Machines do the rest. The people who run and fix the machines are being put out of meaningful work as engineers perfect the machines to do the work without needing people. 

Paul is up for a promotion that has his wife quite excited, but he is feeling bored with his life. When Ed Finnerty, an old friend, shows up and announces that he has quit his prestigious job and seems intent on tweaking the authorities, Paul alternates between being annoyed by him and being thrilled. The worst thing a person in this society can be called is a saboteur; the authorities are working to jail those who would damage the machinery. Paul, whose father was instrumental in constructing this society of automation, finds himself in an interesting position where both sides are vying for him to help them.