Bernd Willenbrock, formerly an engineer in an East German company, successfully runs a used car dealership in Berlin in the late nineties. Both professionally and privately, everything seems to be in order: his marriage is functioning, his wife enjoys working in her own boutique, and she is unaware of Willenbrock's occasional meetings with attractive female customers. However, gradually, first imperceptibly and then unmistakably, all the certainties of civilized life begin to crumble: theft, robbery, burglary – behind the seemingly orderly facade lies a jungle where only one rule applies: help yourself! Christoph Hein gradually reveals in his "latest, most beautiful, and most mature novel," as Die Welt stated, what lies beneath the surface of respectability, showing how the initial calmness of his protagonist turns into resignation and cynicism.