Henning has made it: Growing up a working-class kid in the 1970s, he fell in love with literature early on and made a name for himself as a journalist and literary connoisseur in bohemian and educated circles. But he still considers his background a stain to be kept hidden.
When his father dies of cancer, Henning feels no grief; he was like a stranger to him. But at his funeral, Henning meets Jochen, an old childhood friend of his father's. In Jochen's stories his father appears as a completely different person than the one Jochen knows: hungry for life, bursting with plans and dreams. Henning decides to recreate a journey Jochen and his father undertook when they were young and, in the process, discovers that his idea of his father as unassuming and dull is not the whole truth…
Hilmar Klute lets two worlds collide - he shows how formative social class can be and what price has to be paid for advancement.
