Because this reference might be lost on American readers, it was originally released as A Question of Attraction when it was published in the United States.

[2] The story, told in first-person narrative, is set in 1985 and chronicles the misadventures of student Brian Jackson in his first year at an unnamed university.

Brian promptly falls for his glamorous teammate, Alice Harbinson, although the attraction is not mutual, and he may have more in common with a counterculturalist chum, Rebecca Epstein.

Additionally, Brian finds himself caught between his new life, amongst the middle-class university set, and his old, with his working-class family and friends in the seaside town of Southend, Essex.

On attending the prestigious University, Brian is aware that his state school background and working-class roots make him stand out.