work one's guts out

So someone would come and clean his car and he'd give it to them, yet you would work your guts out for a fairly modest salary.

"I mean, you work your guts out, fly halfway around the world and do it some more, get strapped into a torture seat - you think Virgin springs for business-class tickets for its employees?

That's what they were doing, and then if you made too much slate this month, the following month they'd drop your bonus down, so as to see as to keep you on the same level, so you couldn't go any higher if you if you had good slate and worked your guts out.