Five years after leaving university, Lizzie Jordan considers herself one of life's failures. Unlike her highflying friends, Lizzie works as a lowly typist, shares a grotty flat and 'makes do' with her accountant boyfriend. She's never really been able to get over Brian, the handsome American student she dated at university, who is now a hugely successful Wall Street banker. Lizzie still corresponds with Brian by email. But the life she describes to him, with its extravagant parties and million-pound business deals, bears little relation to reality. Lizzie is overjoyed when Brian announces he's coming to stay. But how can she conceal from him the fact that the glamorous lifestyle she's been describing to him all these years is based on a tissue of lies? Ever resourceful, Lizzie comes up with a cunning plan. But the best-laid plans have a habit of going horribly wrong.