Neil Double is a "conference surrogate," hired by his clients to attend industry conferences so that they don't have to. It's a life of budget travel, cheap suits, and exhibition centers—a kind of paradise for Neil. But his latest job, at a conference of conference organizers, will radically transform him and everything he believes as it draws him into a bizarre and speculative mystery. In a brand-new Way Inn—a global chain of mid-budget motels—in an airport hinterland, he wanders beyond a quotidian fire door and encounters a strange woman known to him only through his dreams. His world tessellates and the woman flees. His search for her will lead him to discover dark and disturbing secrets about the Way Inn, and reality itself. Trapped in a metaphysical Möbius strip, Neil must finally accept that there may be no way out of his mass-produced environment—and devise an impossible plan of escape.