This compendium synthesizes the principal characters, incidents and outcomes of the narrative, emphasizing its recurrent tensions between sporting aspiration and commercial necessity.

Setting and principal figures
- Michael (Mike) Jackson: a talented young cricketer whose career ambitions (Cambridge, county and possibly a professional future) conflict with an enforced entry into commerce.
- Rupert Psmith: an urbane, strategic Old Etonian, self-styled “confidential secretary and adviser”, whose eccentric wit and calculated social manoeuvres shape much of the plot.
- Mr Smith (Psmith’s father): an impulsive man of hobbies who provides resources and a social anchor.
- Mr John Bickersdyke: manager of the New Asiatic Bank, a hard, politically ambitious figure whose antipathy toward Psmith and occasional impatience with subordinates generates workplace friction.
- Mr Waller: the kindly cashier; Mr Rossiter: fussy head of the Postage Department; Gregory: brusque head of Fixed Deposits; various bank clerks and minor characters form the office milieu.

Major incidents and arcs
1. Ilsworth cricket week. Mike is establishing himself as a fine batsman. At 98 he is unexpectedly bowled when Mr Bickersdyke walks behind the bowler’s arm, obstructing Mike’s view—an event that introduces Bickersdyke into Mike’s life and catalyses later hostility.

2. Family reversal. On returning home Mike learns his father has lost a large sum; family finances force both sons into immediate employment. Mike obtains a place at the New Asiatic Bank; Psmith, after a strained encounter with Bickersdyke at the Smiths’, also joins the bank.

3. Office life and strategies. Mike is placed in Postage (then Cash, later Fixed Deposits). Psmith deliberately cultivates allies—most notably Rossiter—by exploiting shared interests (football), then applies persistent social “haunting” to unsettle Bickersdyke at the club and in public, with mixed results. Psmith’s theatrical interventions culminate in a public disturbance when, at a Kenningford meeting, he heckles Bickersdyke; a later confrontation leads to Psmith being assaulted and roughed up.

4. Crisis: the forged cheque. The cashier, Mr Waller, is implicated emotionally and professionally when a large cheque is discovered to be forged. Mike admits he cashed it, believing himself culpable; the situation threatens dismissal. Psmith negotiates behind the scenes: through a combination of tact, exposure of Bickersdyke’s own past radical speeches (the Tulse Hill Parliament records) and calculated pressure, he secures Mike’s reprieve. Bickersdyke is soon elected M.P., which further alters office dynamics.

5. Resolutions and departures. Psmith decides to abandon banking for the Bar and arranges—through his father—prospects for Mike that include Cambridge or an agent’s post; Mike, however, chooses the immediate route of cricket. Summoned unexpectedly to play for his county at Lord’s, Mike responds and converts opportunity into success, scoring a substantial innings (148). The book closes with Psmith and Mike informing Bickersdyke of their resignations: Psmith intends to pursue law and Cambridge; Mike moves decisively toward a cricketing future.

Themes and tone
The narrative contrasts public-school sporting ideals with the routines and hierarchies of City life, using comedy, social satire and episodic confrontations to expose class, ambition, friendship and the resourceful subversion of authority. Psmith’s strategic geniality and Mike’s athletic integrity drive the story toward a resolution in which personal vocation triumphs over imposed vocation.