Little Chandler, who is a legal clerk in his 30s, is looking forward to meeting his old friend Ignatius Gallaher in the evening. They haven't seen each other for eight years, during which Gallaher has become a journalist in London.

Little Chandler spends his day at work counting down the hours to his meeting in a bar with his old friend. As Little gets ready to meet Gallaher, he begins to hope that Gallaher might be able to assist him in kickstarting his own writing career as a poet, and possibly even outside of Dublin.

The two men meet and begin to recount their lives apart. Little is both impressed by his friend's achievement and also feels jealous of him. Little admires Gallaher's ability to travel and pursue a career as a writer, and he wishes he could do the same. He had his own ambitions to write poetry, but they were unfulfilled as he perused marriage and a career as a clerk.

Gallaher's focus is mainly on his own life and experiences, rather than on Little's aspirations in literature. Chandler is put off by Gallaher's slightly distasteful manner, particularly when he talks about the prevalence of immorality in other countries. As they drink more than Little usually does, they eventually talk about Little's family, but Gallaher, while congratulating Little, declares that he himself would never get married. He says he will only marry a rich woman, but he prefers to have many passionate affairs. As they finish their last drink, Gallaher belittles the idea of marriage altogether.

Upon returning home, Chandler gets into a quarrel with his spouse over a trivial issue. Consequently, she leaves him to take care of the baby while she goes out for an errand. While alone with his child, Chandler starts feeling bitter and remorseful about various aspects of his life that he thinks are hindering him.

Little is engrossed in poetry and contemplating a potential writing career, while also wondering if he made the right decision to get married to someone who seems less passionate and exciting than his friends' mistresses. However, his child wakes up and starts crying inconsolably. When his wife returns, she is angry at Little for disturbing the baby. As she comforts their child, Little's own eyes well up with tears.