For disgraced TV presenter Martin Sharp the answer's pretty simple：he has，in his own words，‘issed his life away’.And on New Year's Eve he's going to end it all …But not，as it happens，alone.Because first single-mum Maureen，then eighteen-year-old Jess and lastly American rock-god JJ turn up and crash Martin's private party.They've stolen his idea-but brought their own reasons. Yet it's hard to jump when you've got an audience queuing impatiently behind you.A few heated words and some slices of cold pizza later and these four strangers are suddenly allies.But is their unlikely friendship a good enough reason to carry on living？ ‘Hornby pins down the age in which we live with precision and comic brilliance’.

在元旦新年的守岁夜，伦敦有四个失意绝望的人：因为跟一个15岁少女上床而声败名裂的电视名人马丁；除了照顾自己严重残疾的成年儿子没有自己生活的中年妇女莫莲；因为姐姐几年前神秘失踪而一直走不出心理阴影的少女杰丝；和乐队解散、女友分手的美国摇滚歌手JJ。他们都想到著名的“礼帽大厦”楼顶跳楼自杀，四人在楼顶不期而遇。他们一起度过了一个晚上，讲述各自不幸的遭遇，第二天一早各自回家，但从此形成了一个奇怪的四人小团体，开始发生各种各样有趣的事情，比如他们试图挽救马丁的婚姻，结果一团糟；他们组成读书会，专门讨论自杀的作家们，他们还计划不周地匆匆去金丝雀群岛旅行……