A London house. A warren of rooms. The tenants refuse to budge. A comic novel about a tragic, and grotesque world presided over by an elderly showman with delusional plans about the future. A Captain Ahab in an attic flat caring for a younger woman, he tries to enlist the help of another tenant. This anarchic young man records his every move and the lives of those around him. Like England, the house is built on shifting foundations and shaky dreams.