Much of the early plot takes place in Carlton, a fictional town south of Perth, Western Australia.

Most of the rest of the novel takes place in Kalgoorkatta and Bullens Creek, in the Western Australian desert.

These comic diversions usually come to an abrupt end, often due to the hapless sudden death of a gag character.

The book contains crude and cringe humour, with characters who often experience flatulence and drunkenness, and running afoul of the law.

As in much of Elton's comic work, the central character is an unsuccessful, self-loathing, 'farty' skinny Englishman who has trouble relating to women.

The book's prominent themes include: Colin "CD" Dobson lives a humdrum life at a critical point in history.

The environment is being destroyed by a series of 'avalanches' – sudden upsets in the Earth's ecosystem, causing widespread destruction.

The Stark conspiracy is a cabal of the world's richest and most influential men, who have long been aware that the planet's ecosystem is approaching total collapse.

Seeking to save their own lives and leave everyone else to suffer from 'total toxic overload', they secretly build a fleet of spacecraft with the intention of colonising the Moon.

The narrative ends with an admonishment for the world's consumers over their inaction on environmental issues in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Ben Elton played the lead role, with Colin Friels as Sly and Jacqueline McKenzie as Rachel.

Elton's subsequent two novels, Gridlock and This Other Eden, also deal with environmental themes and are set in a dystopian future.