Maxwell Sim is a classic loser. The marriage has broken up, work is not a joy, and now he has been clinically depressed for six months. Maxwell Sim is the unwanted, castaway outcast who we all fear becoming. He has no friends (unless, of course, you count 70 “friends” from Facebook), he has no one to talk to, and every contact with a living person is a global event for him, which he may not survive. A chance meeting at the airport with a strange girl triggers a chain reaction of confessions and memories in Maxwell's head that will lead him to a fantastic ending. With each page, Maxwell's life becomes more incredible and amazing, he rushes across England - lonely, lost and thirsty... without knowing what. In his new novel, Jonathan Coe is true to himself: he layers theme on theme, weaves plot knots, turns on his hero into a hopeless dead end, and then turns the intrigue around so unexpectedly that you can only admire in amazement. This is a novel about loneliness in the world of technology, about feelings that cannot be sent by e-mail, about the subtle relationships in the life of a modern loner, and about the fact that a toothbrush can sometimes be worse than the most ruthless weapon.