This sweeping epic about the life and times of Tulse Luper stretches from the discovery of Uranium in 1928 to the end of the Cold Warin 1989. Luper, a peripatetic writer and project-maker, is caught in a life of prisons. There are a total of sixteen prisons in the story. Luper uses his prison time by inventing projects in literature, theatre, film and painting, and engaging with his jailers in all manner of plots, schemes and adventures. Because of their responsibilities, jailers are as much prisoners of their prisoners as they are freemen, and this connection between jailer and prisoner provides a great deal of drama. As Luper′s reputation grows, his person becomes more fictional. At a large "Luper" Symposium, lecturers offer their theories on the various stages of his life. The central exhibit of the conference is a collection of 92 suitcases-92 appropriately being the atomic number of Uranium-suitcases that Luper had supposedly been associated with in his travels and prisons. Over the years, the suitcases come to light all over the world.