There are numerous examples of novels about life in modern corporate America, from The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit (Sloan Wilson, 1955) to novels about women's introduction to the upper levels of management, such as The Women's Room (Marilyn French, 1977; see separate entry). Crichton's novel, even though it features a female executive subject to the machinations of a male boss, is really not about sexual politics or "boys-only clubs." It is basically a fast-paced adventure involving a mystery, and physical and financial danger that the heroine conquer.

In this regard, Casey could have been a male character without substantial change to the plot.

Airframe is most closely akin to classic political thrillers like Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey's Seven Days in May (1962), which involved a plot by top officers in the Pentagon who have created their own units within the Armed Services in order to...