Irony of the workplace
As Jose becomes disillusioned about his monotonous job, he begins to collect data for his own purposes, creating a record of people throughout history. In doing this he stumbles upon the records of an unknown woman and uses information gained through his job to try and find her. His workplace finds out about his misdoings, but instead of criticizing him they encourage him to carry on. As such, they encourage the obsession that ultimately distracts him from his work.
Irony of obsession
Jose devotes his entire life to finding the unknown woman, ultimately becoming obsessed and neglecting his other duties. However, at the end of the novel we don't find out if he eventually finds the woman or not, meaning that all the effort could have been fruitless.
Irony of monotony
The novel is concerned with Jose's monotonous life and career as an administrator. Although the monotony of his life is emphasized, the book itself is far from monotonous. The novel focuses on a character who feels his life is monotonous, while ironically presenting his life as being exciting and interesting.
