The novel begins on a cold, grey January morning when George Bowling (also known by the nickname “Fatty”) is getting ready to go out and get a new pair of false teeth. Bowling is a 45-year-old married father of two living on Ellesmere Road in the outer suburbs of London. He is largely dissatisfied with his life: He describes his home as cramped and full of unnecessary things, with a back garden identical to that of every other house on the street. Bowling is especially unhappy with his body and the fact that he has gained weight and lost mobility with age. Equally upsetting to Bowling is the fact that he has to wear false teeth. He hates the feeling of his bare gums meeting and the sight of his false teeth in an empty water cup.

As Bowling bathes, he muses that he has two reasons to be happy. First, he has a day off from his job as an insurance salesman, as his car is being repaired; and second, he has a secret hoard of money that no one else in his family knows about. Bowling explains that a coworker of his named Mellors has been convinced by a book called Astrology Applied to Horse-Racing to bet on a longshot horse named Corsair’s Bride.