Is Severance based on a book? Details explored as season 2 gets critical acclaim

Corporate life can often feel like a sci-fi dystopia, can’t it? This might explain the popularity of both Ling Ma’s Severance (2018) and Apple TV’s Severance (2022). Although these two share the same name, their stories take completely different directions.

While the Apple TV series Severance (2022) shares its name with Ling Ma's 2018 novel Severance, the show is not directly based on the book. Instead, it draws from similar themes, but the storylines and settings diverge significantly.

Yet, both offer eerily relatable portrayals of modern work culture and the toll it takes on people. Let’s dive into these two works and explore their shared themes and distinct differences.

Ling Ma’s Severance and Apple TV’s Severance address the realities of corporate burnout, albeit in very different ways. The novel uses a post-apocalyptic setting to reflect on monotony, while the show turns to a high-concept sci-fi twist.

Whether through Candace’s dull publishing job or Mark’s bizarre workplace split into "innies" and "outies," both works highlight how repetitive work can strip life of its meaning.

Comparing the two Severances

Candace Chen is a millennial trying to navigate her unfulfilling corporate job in New York City. She oversees the production of Bibles, a task that feels as lifeless as the job itself.

Candace’s routine mirrors the lives of many workers who feel stuck. Her job is meant to be temporary, but time slips by, and she finds herself entrenched in a life she never wanted.

When Shen Fever, a pandemic that reduces people to zombie-like states, spreads globally, Candace’s perspective shifts. The world collapses, and the meaninglessness of her work becomes even more apparent.

In the series, Lumen Industries develops a procedure that separates workers' personal and professional memories. Employees, like Mark, have no recollection of their personal lives while at work, and vice versa.

Mark’s work persona (“innie”) and personal persona (“outie”) operate like two different people. Lumen Industries isn’t just a regular corporation.

Both stories explore how corporate environments alienate workers, leaving them disconnected from themselves and their passions. While Ling Ma’s novel is rooted in pandemic-induced chaos, the TV series leans into sci-fi with its mind-bending memory experiments.

Whether it’s the existential burnout Candace faces or Mark’s fragmented existence, the emotional weight of corporate life hits close to home. Post-pandemic, these stories feel even more relevant. They reflect our collective struggles with work-life balance and finding purpose.

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While Ling Ma’s Severance and Apple TV’s Severance are unrelated, they both brilliantly capture the suffocating realities of corporate life in their own unique ways.

Whether through Candace’s post-apocalyptic journey or Mark’s sci-fi dilemmas, these tales remind us that sometimes, the greatest battle is finding meaning in the mundane.

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