Where people are born and when they grow older they don't choose their careers but are given one depending on what the

society needs. Heard about it from my psychology teacher seems really interesting,I'm pretty sure it's an old book and I thought it was written by George Orwell but I can't find no matches to that description. Thanks in advance!

The Giver by Lois Lowry?

Anthem by Ayn Rand?

1984 would be the Orwell example, no question. Another possibility is Brave New World or We; those are generally regarded as the classic dystopias.

>4 Cecrow:

Those are dystopias, yes, but the specifics don't match.

Ira Levin's This Perfect Day is an old-ish dystopia and also has the computer overlord assigning jobs to people.

Mayhap Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro? I actually haven't read the book, but I watched the movie and that's the basic plot.

Update: Er, I guess maybe not. My memory's not so hot. It's been a few years. I just read a synopsis of the movie and it's a bit different...

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

I'd go with The giver, thats the exact anthology of the book.

I’m also looking for this, or similar. In the story I remember, each year youth have the knowledge they should know, directly downloaded into their brain. Then at a certain age they are tested for their “skill set”. Society then assigns them the job best suited to them and that matches the need sof the society. However the main character is told that he has skill set and is not good for anything. At first he is upset because he believes them, then doesn’t accept it.

In a way it is very much like The Giver. But in this book, he is told he has nothing to give or do for his society. Then he fights back, thinking he has much to give. Lastly it is revealed to him that his refusal to accept that he is worthless is what he needed to do to prove that he belonged with the “programmers” that wrote the knowledge to be downloaded and gain new info.

This Perfect Day, Ira Levin? (couldn't get the author touchstone to work, sorry)

The "programmers" being people who are frustrated and willing to rebel against the society part sounds right, as does the highly computerized setting. The wikipedia article is a good summary to check if it sounds familiar. Very good classic sf dystopia from the 70s.

Sorry Jarandel, just saw yours! Great Minds think alike! Or maybe are programmed alike? :)

Manxmargie, your story sounds like "Profession" by Isaac Asimov. It's a short story, not a novel. Not sure if this is the OP's story.