Xaver Zürn, chauffeur to the manufacturer Dr. Gleitze, would like to have a private conversation with his boss during the long drives. However, this does not happen. Dr. Gleitze either talks himself or listens to Mozart concerts through headphones, about which he intends to write a standard work. Xaver Zürn ultimately suffers greatly from disappointed expectations, both physically and emotionally, behaves conspicuously, and is banished to the workshop. The book, whose main themes are dependency, parent-child relationships, marriage, and home, nonetheless has a reconciliatory ending.