Robinson is commissioned to investigate the unspecified "problem of England." The narrator describes his seven excursions, with the unseen Robinson, around the country. They mainly concentrate on ports, power stations, prisons, and manufacturing plants, but they also bring in various literary connections, as well as a few conventional landscapes.

“罗宾逊在太空”（1997）认为英国各地的二人之旅，由广告公司收取调查“与英国问题”，没有被告知，问题可能是什么。他们开始在读书，然后转移到各个港口，工厂和学术中心，如伊顿公学，牛津大学和剑桥大学，他们的研究在路上扔了一些有趣的结论。