At the beginning of Fredrik Backman's A Man Called Ove, the title character is filled with despair and bitterness, and he is ready to commit suicide, thinking that there is no purpose to his life now that his wife is gone. But by the end of the story, Ove has discovered meaning in his life by helping his neighbors and a stray cat.

Ove is so alone at the beginning of the novel. He has lost his beloved wife, Sonja, to cancer, and he feels that he has nothing left to live for. He does not even have his job anymore since he has been forced to retire. He decides that he will hang himself in the living room and even installs the hook, but then a new neighbor accidentally backs a trailer into Ove's house, and Ove ends up helping the man and his family.

Other neighbors call on Ove for help, and he learns that an old friend-turned-enemy, Rune, has Alzheimer's disease. Ove goes over to drain the radiators at Rune and Anita's home. The neighbors continue to interrupt Ove every time he tries to kill himself, and Ove steps up to help every time. He even befriends a stray cat and saves the life of another person at the train station.

All along, Ove thinks back to his life with Sonja, learning to treasure the memories again. Soon the cat is a constant companion, and Ove's neighbors are always reaching out to him for help. Ove helps every one of them, and soon ideas of suicide are far from his mind. Ove has found meaning in his life, and even though he dies at the end of the story, it is not by his own hand. His death is natural and peaceful with the cat beside him.