After his apprenticeship in carpentry, Bruno Melzer's hopes for the so-called "years of freedom" do not materialize. The dream of independence quickly proves to be a fragile utopia for him. A painful process of disillusionment accompanies his monotonous work on the assembly line of a furniture factory. He loses the last remnants of apparent freedom when an acquaintance unexpectedly becomes pregnant. However, Wolfgruber's famous novel depicts more than the life story of the worker Melzer; it reflects social conditions that are still relevant today, which are also states of thought and language.