A Confederacy of Dunces‘ unemployed anti-hero, Ignatius Reilly, explores the tension between the school ethic and the work ethic in a conversation with his long-suffering mother:

“I doubt very seriously whether anyone will hire me.”

“What do you mean, babe? You a fine boy with a good education.”

“Employers
sense in me a denial of their values.” He rolled over onto his back. “They fear me. I suspect that they can see that I am forced to function
in a century I loathe. This was true even when I worked for the New
Orleans Public Library.”

“But, Ignatius, that was the only time you worked since you got out of college, and you was only there for two weeks.”

“That is exactly what I mean,” Ignatius replied, aiming a paper ball at the bowl of the milk glass chandelier.

“All you did was paste them little slips in the books.”

“Yes, but I had my own esthetic about pasting those slips.”

P.S. One recruiting blog’s take on Reilly.