The time is the success-driven '50s; Tommy Wilhelm is a middle-aged man who has just lost his salesman's job. Margaret, his wife, is on the verge of divorce and fully intends to take him to the cleaners whether he has an income or not. Doctor Adler, Tommy's judgmental father, cannot abide having a failure in the family and refuses to lend his son a single penny.. In desperation, Tommy heads to New York City, where his old wheeler-dealer pal Dr. Tamkin has promised him a job. Even there, however, Tommy is defeated by the cold-shoulder treatment afforded him by the people whose opinions he values most..