Anton Vowl is missing. Ransacking his Paris flat, a group of his faithful companions trawl through his diary for any hint as to his location and, insidiously, a ghost, from Vowl's past starts to cast its malignant shadow.

Told through a series of letters, this is set on the fictional island of Nollop, home to the great Nevin Nollop, inventor of the pangram 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog'. The islanders erect a statue to their hero, but one day the letter 'z' falls from the inscription. To the despair of the residents, the council interprets the falling tile as Nollop's message from beyond the grave ..

'Eunoia', which means 'beautiful thinking', is the shortest word in the English language to contain all five vowels. This book also contains them, but never at the same time. It includes five chapters that use only one vowel.

On a crowded bus at midday, the author observes one man accusing another of jostling him deliberately. When a seat is vacated, the first man appropriates it. In another part of town, the author sees the man being advised by a friend to sew another button on his overcoat. This book retells this tale ninety-nine times in 99 different styles.