The story is set in 2010, mostly in the United States. A number of plots and many vignettes are played out in this future world, based on Brunner's extrapolation of social, economic and technological trends. The key main trends are based on the enormous population and its impact - social stresses, eugenic legislation, widening social divisions, future shock, extremism. Certain of Brunner's guesses are fairly close, others not, and some ideas clearly show their 1960s mind-set. The title refers to the population of Brunner's Earth, over seven billion; the book states that while the 1960s world population could be fitted onto the Isle of Man, by 2010 they would need an island the size of Zanzibar. (The current UN estimate is that the world population will reach 7 billion around 2013.)
The book starts (at "CONTEXT (0) The Innis mode") with a half-page quote from The Gutenberg Galaxy by Marshall McLuhan and expands, possibly in the Innis mode, with a number of stylistic devices - most obviously the sprawling narrative with choppy, episodic advancement of the characters. Chapters consist of many short paragraphs, often single sentences - offering a snap-shot introduction and advancing of the many plots and sub-plots and quick views of Brunner's world in the form of slogans, snatches of conversation, advertising text, songs, extracts from newspapers and books (notably The Hipcrime Vocab and other works by Chad C. Mulligan), and other cultural detritus. Other features are the introduction of 'future' products and words such as "codder" (man), "shiggy" (woman), "whereinole" (where in hell?), "prowly" and "mucker" (a person gone amok). Most are simple replacements for existing terms except for, of course, "eptification".
The book centres on two New York men, Donald Hogan and Norman Niblock House. House is a rising executive at General Technics, one of the all-powerful corporations. Using his "Afram" (African American) heritage to advance his position, he has risen to vice-president at age twenty-six. "Donald Hogan is a spy", the single paragraph rises out of nowhere and introduces him; he shares an apartment with House and his cover is as a student. Hogan's work is as an analyst, synthesis, for the so-called Dilettante Dept, although he is a commissioned officer and can be called-up for work.
The two main plots concern the mythical African state of Beninia making a deal with General Technics in order to take over the management of their country in an attempt to create a utopian state. A second major plot is a genetics break-through in the mythical Australasian nation of Yatakang. The two plots are seemingly related, although this is not immediately apparent.