In Arjouni's stories, life hardly ever obeys the rules: everything happens differently and takes unexpected turns. A theatre producer signs up a hitch-hiker to play the part of an old school friend because he does not want to be regarded as a work zombie by his colleagues. An old recluse finds more than just peace and quiet in his rural retreat. And it takes a bank robbery to make a man who has married above him come into his own. Gamblers and losers, daydreamers, mercenaries, and people who pull off coups: Arjouni's stories are full of surprise encounters in very different milieus.