The setting is on a floating platform where a group of evenly and carefully placed men live. Each man is aware that the platform is not stable and in order not to fall to their deaths, they maintain a careful balance of weight to prevent the platform from tipping too far and cause them all to fall.

The Grand Budapest Hotel tells of a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars and his friendship with a young employee who becomes his trusted protégé. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting, the battle for an enormous family fortune and the slow and then sudden upheavals that transformed Europe during the first half of the 20th century.

这是一部讲述德国一群生活在大都市的青年人的小说，主人公都在30岁左右，属于德国经济腾飞后成长起来物质上富有、精神上空虚的“糟糕的一代”，他们有不错的工作，有好的住房，无衣食之忧，可他们并不幸福，因为他们没有理想、希望和信仰，感到无聊和寂寞；对日新月异的花花世界感到困惑和无奈；他们每个人都有一段动人的故事，彼此间的熟人、朋友和婚姻关系把他们牵在了一起，使他们扯不断，理还乱。为改变现状，改变毫无内涵的生活，他们有的辞去工作，到国外去寻找幸福，结果非但没有找到幸福，反而客死他乡。