The hero of Kingsley Amis's comedy is Stanley Duke. Attractive, prosperous and happily remarried, Stanley leads a life that is positively enviable--that is, until it becomes apparent that his teenage son, Steve, is going mad.

It isn't that Steve suddenly tears up a copy of Bellow's HERZOG, or cranks his stereo to ear-shattering levels...that's normal. It's his pursuit by cosmic forces that concerns his father. Stanley's confrontation with his son's madness give Amis the opportunity to pull off a comic masterpiece.

"Tough, funny, tender and provoking. One of his fiercest and best." (Punch)