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Things aren't going well for James Duffy. The beleaguered communications director of Sir Richard Middling University is struggling to do the right thing while navigating the quirks and minefields of campus politics. The odds are against him and the challenges keep piling up: an ambitious polytechnical college is scheming to take over Sir Middling U; a furore erupts over a bigoted guest speaker; and activists want to tear down a statue of the university's controversial namesake. While striving to defuse the various crises, Duffy encounters a cast of eccentric characters: a scholarly burlesque queen; an author of dreadful poetry; a hobby-horse-riding free-speech advocate; and a diaper-wearing basset hound. As things go from bad to worse, Duffy's flagging spirits are lifted-and his moral compass righted-by the girl of his dreams, the wise and loyal Sophie Munn.