What should you read to get to grips with a new job? Employee manuals or classic management titles can be an obvious starting point. But for many professions, a more informal reading list can offer greater insight than official resources.

These offbeat classics, picked by people working in key sectors, can act as spiritual guidebooks, revealing the subtler nuances in corporate culture or the artistry of the day-to-day. Crucially, they are often a joy to read, whether you are employed in the field or not.

Accountants: ‘Foundation series’ by Isaac Asimov

Vivek Kotecha, a forensic accountant who began his career at Deloitte and now runs Trinava Accounting, says Asimov’s science fiction epic, which revolves around a maverick who combines mathematics and sociology to predict the future, is a useful warning for colleagues. “The confidence in large historical patterns and laws of human behaviour in the novels reflects the (sometimes misplaced) confidence that accountants?.?.?. have in both historical financial data and the accounting standards,” he says. “The lesson I draw from it is the constant need for humility.”