The other Grims don't do anything for a living. Henry, also unemployed, is writing his memoirs, which he says will be socially explosive. In addition to his writing, he takes on the governance of Simon's life. He reads some pages of a poem that Simon has written and urges him to quit his job and concentrate on the poem. While this goes on, Fay makes moves on Henry who then has sex with her mother.
Mom subsequently commits suicide.
Simon's book-length poem is published enthusiastically, but the publisher declines Henry's memoirs. Some five years pass. At the finish, Henry is running for the Stockholm plane to accept the prize himself. To this less than silken story, add a few data. Someone forces Simon to attempt it, but he pukes over her bottom.