Carlo Cofield, a restless WWII vet in New York City, alternates between work at the Atlantic Novelty Company and hanging out at the Treble Bar listening to the Quo Vadis Quartet.

Vic introduces Carlo to hit songwriter Prescott Tom, whose sister Toby takes him to the beach to see the body builders.

The novel was made into a 1967 film directed by Alexander Mackendrick and starring Tony Curtis, Sharon Tate and Claudia Cardinale.

Ira Wallach once collaborated with Peter Ustinov on the screenplay for "Hot Millions," His 1959 novel "Muscle Beach[1]," a comedy about the body-building cult in Southern California, was made into a film, "Don't Make Waves" (1967), with Tony Curtis and Claudia Cardinale.

The novel generated a generally positive reaction in the New York Times Book Review: "Mr. Wallach is one of the deftest satirists at large and a master of the fragile art of parody.