Having left school in the early Fifties, Tim Adams has no idea of what he wants to do with his life. His father organises an office job for him in a multinational company where Tim is confronted by a very tedious life, in which little work is done by the large numbers of self-important staff to whom juniors are inferior beings. He is challenged by a so-called management course, run by men of dubious reputation, fears of National Service and its attendant absurdities, an unusual holiday in Paris and the desperate need to do something more exciting. Initially, his sense of humour sustains him until he discovers routes out of his boredom. After the early years of frustrated adulthood, he meets new self-imposed challenges and discovers that life is not necessarily as dull as he had feared. The account of his more mature years, told with engaging humour, satirises the worlds of big business, international travel and journalism.