Biggsy is an idealistic 50-year-old English teacher in a West London boys' secondary school. A maverick head of department who battled against the educational establishment for twenty-five years, he's beginning to crack. His departmental colleagues love him, but he suspects that the school's management team is out to get rid of him.

His wife, Myra, a medical secretary, is his mainstay. She patiently endures his total commitment to his calling without complaint. However, when she realises that his work is taking an inordinate emotional toll on his personality, her patience wears thin.

Through his exchanges with teenage Ella, their only child, Biggsy reveals his beliefs about the connections between literary theory and the lives we all lead. But a violent assault on one of his students, an unexpected sexual encounter and professional betrayal expose the flaws in his philosophy. He discovers that trying to think one's way through life is all very well, but the time comes when one has to act.