Two men facing midlife crisis, Klaus Buch and Helmut Halm, are old school friends and meet by chance during vacation with their wives at Lake Constance.

Their socialising during the vacation turns into a power struggle.

Klaus boasts about his manliness whereas Helmut has come to terms with his ordinary and uneventful life.

[1] It was published in an English translation by Leila Vennewitz in 1987.

[2] The novella is the basis for the 2007 film Runaway Horse.