Lazy, gluttonous, uncompromising, the enormous Ignatius J. Reilly from New Orleans gets confused if someone suggests he watch a musical, wear a jacket, get on a bus, and especially work. He plays his lute, records his observations about life and the modern world on Indian stationery, devours countless sausages, and sows chaos in two businesses. The idiots conspire against him: a mother who decided to enjoy her life, a supervisor who wants him to do arithmetic, a bar owner who doesn't want him as a customer, an overzealous policeman, a friend who pressures him to make love, a homosexual who invites him to his party. Ignatius resists.