Mel, a man in his late forties, is a senior employee in a respectable New York firm. The company’s difficulties demand layoffs and pay cuts, and Mel – “a nervous man even when he’s calm” – becomes ever more tense and short-tempered, until he, too, is finally fired. His wife Edna tries to bring in some income, but she fails as well.

Meanwhile, the angry Mel wages a hopeless war on everything around him: noisy neighbors, polluted air, muggers, and the psychiatrist who has the nerve to die on him mid-session. His wife tries to enlist the help of the family, to no avail. Only when Mel starts to recover and feel like himself again does a light appear at the end of the tunnel.

Against this backdrop, Neil Simon creates one of his wittiest and funniest comedies, which has enjoyed huge success all over the world.