May 29 (Bloomberg) -- Why has investment banking, instead of soldiering in Iraq or drug abuse, become the issue of the day for talented young American novelists?

First, this season's lists brought us Dana Vachon's wickedly self-assured debut, ``Mergers & Acquisitions.'' Now David Bledin gives us ``Bank,'' another first novel about a sharp young graduate getting chewed up inside the machinery of a powerhouse of modern capitalism.

The story? Our hero goes to work at a bank. And, guess what, he hates it. He really, really hates it.

Bledin spent a year working as a trainee analyst at an investment bank, although he doesn't say which one. This is more than reticence: Part of his argument is that Wall Street banks are all the same.

In keeping with our times, this book began as an e-mail. Bledin wrote a funny note called ``A Day in the Life of an Investment Banker,'' which made the rounds among junior grunts toiling at the coal face of the financial markets. The squib evolved into a newspaper article on white-collar sweatshops. That, in turn, prompted a call from a literary agent. This book is the result.

``Bank'' is a far bleaker work of fiction than Vachon's humorous ``Mergers & Acquisitions.'' Though Bledin delivers plenty of laughs, they are mostly cruel ones.

Our hero, Mumbles, spends his days (and nights, as he's rarely allowed out of the office) as a human punching bag for a parade of dysfunctional bosses, including The Sycophant, The Philanderer and the CrazyBrit.

Unadulterated Sex

His allies in the trenches include The Defeated One and Postal Boy. They are naturally suspicious of The Star and jealous of The Prodigal Son, especially when he starts an affair with a woman banker known only as Unadulterated Sex.

On the whole, it's accurate enough. Bledin is good on the mind-numbing tedium of the daily grind of financial analysis, coupled with the brutal, unreasonable bullying of the bosses. Plenty of people who've worked in banks will wince: Those of us who haven't will worry less about the million-dollar bonuses we're missing.

Bledin's greatest strength lies in the camaraderie that develops among four recent graduates suddenly tossed into the brutality of office life. They struggle to find their feet and to make sense of what's happening around them. They are terrified, yet combative, calling themselves ``cubicle warriors'' and plotting revenge on everyone. ``We should be wearing capes for this,'' Mumbles mutters.

Money Trap

It's all tuned to perfection. Yet the question remains: Why are clever young graduates who have neither the taste nor the aptitude for markets choosing to become bankers? There are two explanations, both related to the fabulous amounts of money now being made on Wall Street.

Just 15 or 20 years ago, graduates could chose from an array of careers that would offer different yet roughly equal sets of rewards. That has now changed. Bankers get paid so much these days that it takes sheer will power to resist the business. Why not make all that loot?

Yet many don't belong in banks and, not surprisingly, they detest the work. One way of taking revenge is to write about it.

Novelists have long lampooned the ways of Wall Street, of course. One thinks of Tom Wolfe's ``The Bonfire of the Vanities.'' The difference is that Bledin and Vachon are writing from the inside out, not the outside in. They recognize all too well the power that financial markets hold over their generation.

Which brings us to the second reason why scribblers are becoming bankers, however briefly. Writers like to home in on the most interesting, disruptive things happening in the world. The argument underlying these books is that the 21st century is being forged in the halls of investment banks.

A nasty world it might be. Yet it's colorful and dynamic. It's where the future is being made. And people always want to write -- and read -- about that.

``Bank'' is published by Back Bay Books (302 pages, $13.99).

(Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this review: Matthew Lynn in London at matthewlynn@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 29, 2007 02:35 EDT