Dave Wilson is a London barman who, in late December 1995, sifts through telephone numbers accumulated during the year.

Each chapter tells the story behind one number. He joins a band of people who wear pink underwear every Friday, goes to sea in a collier, helps a client sell his invention, takes a sick woman to hospital and has other adventures. He becomes friendly with a less than honest policeman, and flies to New York where he falls for an unobtainable woman. There are stories of Christmas parties and egotistical celebrities. Humour weaves through this collection of slices from different lives.