An incorrigible flirt and philanderer, young Cockney chauffeur Alfie Elkins has taken London's sexual revolution less as a matter of fact and more as a personal challenge.

Afforded both the means and the flexibility by his job, we see - over the course of around two years - the care-free life he leads, cavorting with married women, picking up a heart-broken Sheffield run away, and spending six months convalescing in a country sanatorium for shadows on his lungs.

Explaining his cynical view of women and relationships direct to the camera, we hear of Alfie's strong desire to stay free and unentangled: something that proves increasingly difficult as his co-habiting casual girlfriend grows increasingly attached to him and eventually falls pregnant. The arrival of their son, Malcolm, opens up his emotions further, but seemingly not enough to entice him to commit.

Further dalliances with the wife of a friend and an older, much wealthier, buxom American businesswoman - with a sexual appetite as voracious as his - lead only to their own sorry ends, with a back-street abortion and Alfie's own dumping on the cards.

Still single, Alfie begins to wonder, just what's it all about?