After years in a psychiatric institution, the anxious and eccentric Elling is released into the world. He must share an apartment in Oslo with Kjell Bjarne, another former patient. This darkly comedic and moving novel by Ingvar Ambjørnsen follows their clumsy attempts to navigate daily life, from grocery shopping to making friends. Through Elling's richly detailed inner monologue, the story explores themes of loneliness, mental health, and the profound, often humorous, challenge of simply being 'normal' in a world that seems anything but.