Adam Fenwick-Symes
Adam is an emotionally pampered young man who is contracted to a publishing house to write a novel; however, when his manuscript is surprisingly confiscated by a customs agent on his return from Paris, he finds himself still contracted to the same publisher, but under far more draconian terms. He cannot seem to earn money and when he does manage to find some loses it almost as quickly. Adam tries his hand at gambling, which is a disaster because he gives his money to a man who is supposed to place his bet but instead absconds with his cash. He finds a job as a gossip columnist but manages to lose that after creating fictional celebrities to write about instead of writing about actual people.
Adam is engaged, off and on, to Nina Blount, but does not have the money for the wedding, or to keep her in the manner to which she is accustomed once they are married, and so like most of the things in Adam's life, the engagement dissolves, although the two remain friends. Adam is deployed to France in the war, after mass conscription, even there managing to live the higher life by enjoying a cache of confiscated champagne with his one-time bookmaker.
Nina Blount
Nina is spoiled and frivolous, with no depth whatsoever. She is engaged to Adam for most of the novel but breaks off their engagement when she realizes that he is penniless, and marries Ginger Littlejohn instead. She is not particularly faithful to him, keeping Adam dangling on a string whilst Ginger is fighting in France, but she does eventually break off her dalliance with Adam whilst she waits for Ginger to come home.
Colonel Blount
It is difficult to discern whether the Colonel really is eccentric, and slightly mad, or whether he appears this way on purpose to deliberately avoid getting into some situations that he does not want to get into. He is financially well-off, but does not want to loan Adam money; to avoid confrontation he writes him a check but when Nina looks at the check later, her father has signed it "Charlie Chaplin". In this way he effectively denies Adam the loan without actually having to. He often seems very confused.
The Major
The Major is perennially drunk and although it is never specified appears to have somewhat of an alcohol problem. He is a con man and a confidence trickster, duping Adam out of his money which he is ostensibly going to place on a horse but he never places the bet and absconds with the money. When the two run into each other again he claims that he has Adam's winnings all ready to give to him - before disappearing again.
When Adam and the Major meets again, it is in a rather more somber as they meet in France at the start of the war. The Major is of course playing an angle and has some champagne, which had been confiscated.
Ginger Littlejohn
Adam's good friend Ginger is rather enamored with Nina from the first time he meets her and actually proposes to her. She is more smitten with Adam but also likes the thought of sharing Ginger's money and so accepts his proposal, after Adam has offered to sell Nina to Ginger. He is sent to the Front in France shortly after the start of the war, and surprisingly Nina waits for him.
Simon Balcairn
Gossip-monger Balcairn is a spiteful and vituperative gossip columnist who flatters himself with the term "journalist". He has a habit of hounding people and ruining their lives with what he prints and seems to have no remorse about this at all. Surprisingly he ends up committing suicide but not until after he has submitted a very vicious column.
Lady Metroland
The owner of a number of nightclubs in South America, Lady Metroland is always on the look out for pretty young girls to work at the clubs. She appears in a number of Waugh's novels.
Lady Agatha Runcible
Agatha is a friend of Adam's and is a race car driver. She is badly injured in a car accident and subsequently passes away as a result of her injuries.
