Colonel Hilton, aka Uncle Jack, lives in Mount Jewel, the fourth biggest house in Ireland, with his nephew and heir David and a collection of sporadically paid servants. Enraged by the appointment of a lady vicar, he attempts to burn down her bungalow and is put into Silver Meadows, an up-market nursing home. The nursing home is run by the imperious and bossy Mrs Freebody and is filled with ancient and difficult women.

He is eventually sacked for bad behaviour and returns to Mount Jewel with his scheming Filipina nurse Maria. A number of shifty characters, including O’Shea the doctor, Crowley the undertaker, Massey who looks after the horses, and Hennessy the lawyer make up part of the cast.

Uncle Jack is an extremely funny, occasionally sad novel about the inevitable advance of old age.