Jim Sams has gone through a transformation. In his previous life he was either ignored or hated, but now he's suddenly the most powerful man in Britain - and his mission is to put the will of the people into action. He is determined not to let anyone or anything stop him: neither the opposition nor the dissenters in his own party. And not even about the rules of parliamentary democracy. Ian McEwan bows to Kafka to describe a world that is upside down.