James Marcus was the 55th employee at Amazon.com. He came to review books. “He made $9 million on his share options, interviewed the biggest names in American literature and wielded such influence that he could change the fortunes of a little-known novelist or poet with a keystroke. But after the boom came the bust. It was no less dramatic. In months, the value of his shares plunged 95 per cent. Swingeing cuts saw colleagues sacked and escorted to the car park by security guards until, in a final ironic twist, the cutting-edge technology Marcus helped develop rendered him obsolete.”