In Fully Committed which mercilessly settles accounts with the New York restaurant scene and the City’s High Society, we meet Sam Peliczowski, an out-of-work actor on the most gruelling working day he has yet encountered. In order to earn a living he is forced to work as a reservation clerk at Manhattan’s number-one restaurant, which is always booked out for months ahead. This particular day starts out with the usual telephone stress but soon develops into a nightmarish scenario for the minor employee who, naturally, becomes the scapegoat for clients, boss and colleagues whenever anything goes wrong. To begin with, his immediate superior and colleague, Bob, absents himself from work with a flimsy excuse which leaves Sam to deal with both internal and external telephone calls. The callers are made up of the usual refined society ladies, the nouveaux riches, long-suffering secretaries, PR people, na�ve Japanese tourists and those pathetic humans who think they can simply lift the telephone and reserve a table.

For instance there is Mrs. Vandevere, a member of the old New York plutocracy, endowed with a self-confidence exceeded, perhaps, only by her bank balance; further, her newly-rich alter-ego, Carolann Rosenstein-Fishburn, possibly even more trenchant, who will not be dissuaded from her intention to talk personally to the maître d’ who, unfortunately, finds her ugliness so excessive that he cannot bear to speak to her; then there is Bryce, Naomi Campbell’s assistant, who makes numerous calls to pass on all the model’s special requests; then there is the right-hand man of a Malaysian sultan, who is completely devoid of humour; plus many other colourful characters who all find it perfectly natural that the impossible must be made possible – “if you please!!!”

Sam’s private telephone calls on this day are also anything but pleasant. His father, a widower, wants Sam to come home for Christmas but his chances of getting a break from work are extremely poor. His perfect brother Steven, however, has a perfect excuse for not appearing. Then Jerry Miller, an actor colleague, informs him in ill- disguised tones of triumph that he, Jerry, has been placed on the short list for the role for which both of them had auditioned. Sam is once again without a prospect for work.

However, the worst idiosyncrasies are to be found right on the spot in the person of the Chef, whose ego eclipses those of the celebrities around him and in the maître d’ who, with no inhibitions, scrapes and bows down to his superiors, kicks his inferiors and would even sell his French accent for a good tip. Then the ultimate catastrophe occurs: Mr. Zagat, the guru of the restaurant reviewers appears and there is no trace of a reservation. Panic breaks out and in the midst of the chaos an unpleasant accident takes place in the ladies’ toilet, a location which Mrs. Zagat has a need to visit. Everyone yells for Sam – the lowest in the pecking order. Will he save the day – or?