This is a novel of urban prose - a comedy (or tragicomedy?) melodrama, not without a detective line. The book reveals to the reader Kyiv here and now: the same pubs and street traffic jams, theaters and trams, parks and universities. The narrator - Nikolai Loginov - and his friends from their student days find themselves in the thick of life at their university. On his way to the position of department head, Loginov faces the test of power and money, lies and fatigue. He cannot be with his beloved - he is married for convenience. A talented scientist, he is forced to launder money and struggle with decency. What Loginov and his loved ones can cope with, and what is beyond their strength, the reader will learn from the pages of the book.