It is later this century, and the earth's natural resources have been rationed for use by technocrats. Now a global company, LifeCorp, makes all major decisions and robots do most of the work. Life otherwise is much as we know it (except that your house talks to you, the kettle asks you how many cups of tea you want, and you can call up Socrates and other philosophers on the gobey, a futuristic internet).

When the Bell family's much-loved old-fashioned robot butler Grumps starts to go wrong, Mr Bell finds EGR3 through a colleague. But EGR3, known as Eager, is something different - programmed to learn through his experiences, like a human child. He also feels wonder, excitement - and confusion; not least a sense of awe at the latest, glamorous BDC4 robots, flaunted by the families of the powerful and wealthy technocrats. And he feels sorrow at the loss of Grumps, destroyed under strange circumstances.

Then Gavin Bell begins to think there is something odd about the BDC4s behaviour. With his sister Fleur, he investigates, enlisting Eager's help - with hilarious consequences. Questions are asked of LifeCorp and of Eager's creator and the answer to all the puzzles is finally solved. It leaves only the final question to be answered - the one closest to Eager's heart: am I alive?