A young man named Anton narrates the story from a first-person perspective. His friend Chedorlaomer, a famous singer in their home country, lives in a big house called the House of Locks; its doors don’t stay closed unless they’re locked. Chedorlaomer asks Anton to feed his fish when he returns to Iran for mandatory military service.

Anton works at his aunt’s “Swiss-Style Weight Loss Clinic” (61), which is a place that puts clients to sleep until they lose weight. Tyche Shaw also works there; she is a beautiful young woman who is only a part-timer, doing “invocations” on the side. Anton believes Tyche would be a good match for Chedorlaomer, whom he worries about because of how long he has been single.

Anton lives with his boyfriend, Noor, who has two daughters from a previous marriage. The older daughter, Dayang, is 16 and dating a boy whom Anton calls “Face-Shifting Boyfriend” because he looks different each time he comes over. The younger daughter, Aisha, is obsessed with a singer named Matyas Füst, who is popular with fans around the world but who Chedorlaomer says isn’t a good person.