Jingo is something of a drifter who lives on money from his parents, part-time employment as a market researcher, and fantasies of being a writer. After a moment of rash braverystanding up to a bully of a policemanhe finds himself forced to lie low for a while. Hiding out in the underbelly of the city slums and escaping into memories of the past, Jingo recalls his cosseted childhood as the apple of his mother's eye andsometimesthe bane of his father's existence; the loss of his older brother (who died before Jingo was born); his days at school and college; his long-standing and destructive relationship with Cris, a middle-class East Indian girl, and the woman he once thought the love of his life. But as past and present collide, Jingo is forced to consider his life so far, and realizes he must decide what he wants before it is too late.