Billy Fisher is a working-class 19-year-old living with his parents in the town of Stradhoughton in Yorkshire. Bored by his job as a lowly clerk for an undertaker, Billy spends his time indulging in Walter Mitty-like fantasies and dreams of life in the big city as a comedy writer. However, with three girlfriends on the go, his tendency to overimagination comes at a cost. Finally, when his life is a total mess, and nobody believes a word he says, an opportunity to just run away and leave it all behind presents itself. Billy has a difficult decision to make...