man without qualities: vol. 1: a sort of introduction/the like of it now happens (i); vol. 2: the like of it now happens (ii); vol. 3: into the millennium (the criminals)  the man without qualities (1930–42; german: der mann ohne eigenschaften) is an unfinished novel in three books by the austrian writer robert musil. the novel is a "story of ideas", which takes place in the time of the austro-hungarian monarchy's last days, and the plot often veers into allegorical dissections of a wide range of human themes and feelings. it has a particular concern with the values of truth and opinion and how society organises ideas, though the book is over a thousand pages long and no one theme dominates.