Seventeen-year-old English boy breaks away from home and his severe, professorial father to become a jazz musician and the companion of a gentle American Negro hornplayer.
Stories:The life guard ; Manhood ; King Caliban ; I love you, Ricky ; Christmas at Rillingham's ; Rafferty ; The valentine generation ; A message from the pig-man ; Down our way ; Goodnight, Old Daisy.
Set in the area of Staffordshire, England, the novel is an attack on competiveness in life and business. The story centers on the rivalry of two very different men, Robert Lamb and Ned Roper.