Norman Tickle, an over-sized and over-aged teenager, is finally kicked out of home by his weary mother and dictatorial stepfather. He soon hooks up with his friend Arty Harris to head for the Western Highlands on a season of “waiting on" and "bar" work in a remote hotel. In the dilapidated, musty, and thoroughly unhygienic hotel run by Clan Pertwee, the travelers set about their tasks with gusto. But such enthusiasm is unlikely to last in the face of the Pertwees' perverse gastronomic taste.