In his incisive critique of British society, H. G. Wells focuses on the tenacity of the hierarchical class-based system, with its obsession with birth and breeding, and shows how it serves as an obstacle to personal achievement. The protagonist, George Ponderevo, has limited opportunities in life because of the circumstances of his birth and early upbringing. His family are servants on a great estate, but as a child he is allowed to mingle with the owners because of the whims of one of their children, Beatrice, who wants a playmate. His glimpses into their lives give him a taste for more. Although George casts a critical eye on the inequalities of the system, he understands that he must align himself with elites if he wishes to prosper.

By entering into business with his uncle, George expects to achieve commercial success, but he is disillusioned by his uncle's unethical behavior. Instead, pursuing a thoroughly modern trajectory, George studies science and applies it commercially, forgiving his uncle and helping him make a go of the business. His intelligence and hard work pay off, and he racks up numerous achievements. After he becomes financially successful, he can marry Marion and enjoy a comfortable bourgeois lifestyle. Once he does so, however, he realizes this life is unfulfilling and empty.

In allowing George to tell his own story by narrating a novel, Wells limits his analysis to the changing self-perceptions of the protagonist. This allows him both to sharply criticize English social conventions, as George increasingly does, and to show how limited George’s world view is. Because he was raised within the system, he is not able to stand outside it and analyze the real shortcomings. George continues to expect that he will take the next step, find the next gimmick, love the right woman, or discover the correct way to achieve fulfillment. Wells suggests that in his promoting the toxic Tono-Bungay, George has likewise poisoned himself and is complicit in poisoning society as a whole.