Paul West is up to his ears in financial trouble. The only way out is to accept a dubious position, drive across America in a Mini Cooper, advertise your devotion to the Queen and represent Britain in the competition for the World Tourism Capital. His French girlfriend Alexa is traveling with him in the car, and for a while also Jake, an American poet who speaks fluent French, whose main goal in life is to sleep with women of all nationalities in the world.