The main character, Béla Hackspacher, is a forklift driver. He lives in a small rented flat with his wife Irén, his two children, his mother-in-law and Rózsika, a subtenant who is about to become a dance singer. Béla learns at a community cultural programme that he has a 12 on the toto. The show stops, to great joy. The day arrives, 23 October 1956, when Béla can collect his prize.