Peter Gibbons is a frustrated and unmotivated programmer who works at Initech. His co-workers include fellow programmers Samir Nagheenanajar and Michael Bolton, as well as Milton Waddams, a meek collator who is mostly ignored by the rest of the office. The staff constantly suffer under callous management, especially Initech's smarmy vice president Bill Lumbergh, whom Peter loathes. Peter's girlfriend Anne persuades him to attend a hypnotherapy session. Dr. Swanson, the therapist, dies of a heart attack while hypnotizing Peter. A newly relaxed and self-confident Peter acts on the impulse to skip the next workday, and he ignores phone calls from Lumbergh and Anne, who angrily breaks up with him and admits she was cheating on him. Peter begins dating Joanna, a restaurant waitress who shares Peter's loathing of management.