Former seaman Fritz is no longer capable of looking after himself, so the defiant teenager Lars has to care for the old man.

Since the Americans gave up their military training area near Endlingen / Ostalbkreis, the region has been going downhill: Maslow, a jack of all trades, is working on a UFO so that the dump will be mentioned in the press. Meanwhile, Ben - reluctantly entrusted with the care of his demented grandfather - falls in love with Lena, who has ended up in the town ...

The wedding of investment advisor Christian Zeiler to Katharina Buchheim, the daughter of a wealthy family, is just around the corner. On the eve of his wedding, his friends Victor and Paul treat him to a huge cake to say goodbye to his bachelorhood. When the enchanting Miriam jumps out of it, Christian is so impressed that the upcoming wedding is almost forgotten. But there is a good reason for his marriage to Katharina: Christian is heavily in debt and is constantly on the run from angry creditors to whom he has sold unsuccessful investments.

The story is set some time in the past, or maybe some time in the future. Given a time-frame, we would say somewhere between the American moonwalk, and Coca- Cola's serious ambition to turn the moon into an advertising logo. Our central character, the young lift operator, is formed by experience into cynicism, detachment, and apathy. The story builds to its crescendo: of public outrage and state crackdown; the banality of commercial interest and the monumental rape of nature. Set in a large newspaper office, the Lift is a place of relative safety. But floor by floor, with each passenger in his or her tableau, the atmosphere of mayhem seeps in. Finally our young character leaves the situation, far-gone in hopelessness and disinterest.