The gilt-lettered advertisement outside Madame Brulot's pension in the shabby rue d'Armaille promises a 'first-class family boarding house' and 'modern conveniences'. One thing is certain: few emerge from their stay at the Villa des Roses unscathed. The seduction of the new maid Louise, the tragic suicide of Monsieur Brizard, the champagne birthday party for Madame Dumoulin, the antics of Chico the monkey - these are just some of the incidents and characters that cause a sensation in the bittersweet and blackly comic world of the Villa des Roses.

When the ambitious but inept clerk Frans Laarmans is offered a job managing an Edam distribution company in Antwerp, he jumps at the chance, despite his professed dislike for cheese in all its forms. He soon finds himself submerged in a bureaucratic nightmare as his complete incompetence becomes apparent. Meanwhile, his offices fill up with a seemingly infinite supply of the distinctive red-skinned cheeses, which he has no idea how to sell. Skewering the pomposity of big business while revealing how an entrepreneurial spirit can often be a mask for buffoonery, Willem Elsschot's Cheese combines comedy and pathos in its depiction of a man trying to progress beyond his limited skill set. As poignant as it is funny, Cheese will appeal to anyone who has suffered the endless indignities of office life.