The story of a century: a decades-long second World War leaves plague and anarchy, then a rational state rebuilds civilization and attempts space travel.

A heroin junkie works as a prostitute to support his habit and fund an abortion needed by the girlfriend of his lesbian wife. His seedy encounters with delusional and damaged clients, and dates with drag queens and hustlers are heavy on sex, drugs and decadence.

Candy is an aloof heiress caught in an unhappy relationship with her brother. Jackie is a virginal intellectual who believes women are oppressed in contemporary American society. And Holly is a nymphomaniac who has come to loathe men, despite her attraction to them. Together, they join a militant feminist group, P.I.G. (Politically Involved Girls), but their newfound liberation doesn't make them any happier.

Charles, Joseph and Sir Benjamin are in love with Maria and Lady Sneerwell is in love with Charles.

A woman plans to boost her public profile by getting a divorce. She enlists the help of a male friend to act as co-respondent leading to a series of mix-ups and her eventual decision not to get divorced.

A sacked workman rescues an owner's amnesiac son from a factory fire and reports him dead.

In the years after his graduation Allen Shepherd has become a successful novelist and has married Jane Anderson. A firm proponent of traditional sex roles, Shepherd leaves Jane when she accepts a teaching post at Oxford. He later changes his views, and the couple is reunited.

A nurse helps 210 men escape to England before the Germans catch and execute her.