Hoping to find a free place to stay, Jake visits his old girlfriend Anna and her actress sister Sadie. He then attempts to re-connect with his estranged friend Hugo. Jake was once close to each of these people but left them abruptly when he felt uncomfortable.
Iris Murdoch's Under the Net takes us through Jake's misadventures, including his kidnapping of a movie star dog, a riot on a film set, and an escape from a hospital.
The book focuses on miscommunications and the resulting misunderstandings and the incorrect perceptions that people tend to have of one another. Jake spends much of the novel searching for someone. He is ultimately searching for himself.
It is a farcical story of the self-destruction of a likeable rogue.
And it is great fun!