House of Lies by Martin Kihn Summary

House of Lies is a satirical memoir chronicling Martin Kihn's first two years as a management consultant at a top-tier firm. The book exposes the dark realities behind the glamorous consulting facade, revealing how consultants often deliver little value despite charging enormous fees. Through dark humor and brutal honesty, Kihn details the absurdity, incompetence, and greed that permeate the industry while debunking myths about globe-trotting consultant lifestyles.

House of Lies is essential reading for business professionals considering consulting careers, corporate executives evaluating consultant hires, and anyone curious about corporate shenanigans. The book appeals to both insiders and outsiders of the consulting world, offering entertainment value alongside insider knowledge. MBA students, corporate employees who work with consultants, and readers who enjoyed Liar's Poker will find Kihn's exposé both informative and darkly humorous.

House of Lies delivers valuable insights into management consulting's hidden realities with entertaining storytelling and sharp wit. The book provides an unvarnished look at consulting culture, including erroneous advice, power struggles, and client manipulation that most industry insiders won't discuss publicly. While consultants initially hated the book and fire-bombed Amazon with negative reviews, its brutal honesty and real-life stories make it a compelling read for anyone interested in corporate dynamics.

Martin Kihn is a former stand-up comic and Emmy Award-nominated television writer who earned his MBA at a prestigious Ivy League university before joining a top-tier consulting firm. He wrote House of Lies after deciding to quit consulting, brazenly exposing industry practices without fear of professional consequences. His unique background in comedy and television writing gave him the storytelling skills and satirical perspective that make the book both brutally honest and entertaining.

House of Lies exposes how consultants spend precious work hours prowling for new clients while offering little useful information once hired. The book reveals that consultants often pontificate on topics they know nothing about, using specialized jargon to sound smart rather than provide genuine expertise. Kihn details how consultants manipulate clients through power breakfasts filled with mind games, create false impressions of authority, and build success on foundations of lies and exaggerations.

Throughout House of Lies, Martin Kihn specifically targets McKinsey as the biggest crook in the management consulting world. He compares McKinsey unfavorably against other consulting firms, building a picture of an organization with dysfunctional structure and old-fashioned political hierarchy. Kihn's criticism highlights McKinsey's influence on the consulting landscape while questioning whether the firm's prestigious reputation matches its actual value delivery to clients.

"Homstel" is Martin Kihn's term combining "Home" and "Hotel" to describe how hotels became his primary residence as a road-warrior consultant. The concept captures the unglamorous reality of consulting life, where consultants spend weeks away from home enduring torturous rituals of airport security, car rentals, and check-ins. This darkly humorous term epitomizes how House of Lies dispels the myth of the glamorous, globe-trotting consultant lifestyle that attracts many to the profession.

The Showtime series House of Lies starring Don Cheadle as Marty Kaan transforms Kihn's memoir into a stylized drama with fourth-wall breaking and fast-paced dialogue. While the show borrowed the premise and Martin Kihn's name (Marty Kaan), Don Cheadle created a character far removed from the real consultant—as Cheadle noted, they differ significantly in "outside packaging". Ironically, consultants who initially hated Kihn's book loved the glamorous TV adaptation, completely rehabilitating his reputation in the industry.

When House of Lies was published, consultants despised the book and fire-bombed Amazon with anonymous one-star reviews while removing Kihn from their professional networks. Fellow consultants viewed him as an ungrateful traitor for exposing industry secrets and practices they preferred remain hidden. However, years later when the Showtime series launched, the same consultants suddenly embraced Kihn, wanting him at reunions and treating him as a glamorous figurehead.

Martin Kihn details working from secluded corners in clients' warehouses, attending "Feedback Camp" sessions in New Jersey, and navigating absurd team dynamics. He chronicles power breakfasts heavy on waffles and mind games, erroneous advice given to clients, and bloody internal power struggles within his firm. The book captures how his personal life deteriorated alongside his professional struggles, creating a comprehensive picture of consulting's toll on work-life balance and mental health.

House of Lies follows the tradition of Liar's Poker by providing a devastatingly accurate, darkly humorous insider exposé of a prestigious industry. Like Michael Lewis's financial industry memoir, Kihn combines entertainment with brutal truth-telling about corporate culture and questionable business practices. Both books use personal experience to illuminate systemic problems while maintaining engaging storytelling that appeals beyond industry insiders. House of Lies applies this formula specifically to management consulting rather than investment banking.

House of Lies remains relevant because management consulting continues growing as an industry while many fundamental problems Kihn identified persist. The book's insights into consultant-client dynamics, expertise inflation, and corporate hierarchy apply to modern business environments where consulting firms still command enormous fees. As companies increasingly hire consultants for digital transformation and organizational change, understanding the tactics and limitations Kihn exposes helps executives make better decisions about when consulting truly adds value versus when it wastes resources.