The first Dilbert strip compilation.

Scott Adams' reputation suffered in his later years, but throughout the nineties, his mordant workplace comic strip was consistently funny, resonated with any employee and was hugely popular.

While working at Pacific Bell, devoting time to building a new career, Adams woke up every day at 4 a.m. and spent time on various endeavors; cartooning proved to be the most successful of them. In 1989, while still employed at Pacific Bell, Adams launched Dilbert with United Media. The workplace strip gained popularity. It was syndicated in 100 newspapers in 1991 and 400 by 1994.

Adams's success grew, and he became a full-time cartoonist as Dilbert reached 800 newspapers. In 1997, Adams won the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist and Best Newspaper Comic Strip. By 2000, the comic was in 2,000 newspapers in 57 countries and 19 languages.

His comic strips were adapted as an animated television series, which premiered in January 1999 and ran for two seasons on UPN. Adams served as executive producer and showrunner, along with Seinfeld writer Larry Charles. The show earned a Primetime Emmy Award in 1999.