'It's a matter of procedure,' I explained. 'Strictly for the record. You don't get sacked from this job unless you did what Thompson did'. 'What did he do then'? 'We never mention it'. Enter the bizarre world of the bus driver, a strange but all too familiar universe in which 'the timetable' and 'the maintenance of headway' are sacred, but where the routes can change with the click of an inspector's fingers. This brilliant short novel is a gently absurd examination of the British bus system and its peculiarities, where the demands of the hapless passengers are virtually ignored and where it is fine to be a little bit late but utterly unforgivable to be a moment early.