Twenty-seven year old New York window washer| J. Pierpont Finch| believes he can be a success in the corporate world after he impulsively picks up the book "How toSucceed in Business Without Really Trying". The book promises its reader that he can climb the corporate ladder simply and quickly. The Worldwide Wicket Corporation|the business in the office building whose windows he washes is| according to the book| the perfect type of business. There he meets secretary Rosemary Pilkington|who sees in Ponty (as she calls him) an unassuming man who she believes the corporate world will eat alive. But Ponty| memorizing what the book tells him| doesquickly climb the corporate ladder but not by doing any real work. Ponty has a few obstacles along the way such as: Bud Frump who sees Ponty as a rival and is thenephew by marriage of the company president J.B. Biggley; Hedy La Rue| a curvaceous but simple woman who has a secret or not-so-secret tie to someone important inthe company; Mr. ...