Shyam and his five friends who work at an Indian call center find out one evening when everything in their lives seems to go wrong. Shyam is distraught about his ex- girlfriend Priyanka's newly arranged marriage plans, while she can't quite believe she's agreed to marry a complete stranger in under a month. His best friend Vroom is convinced that the call center will be shut down any day and that everyone will lose their jobs. Rhadhika is struggling to be the perfect daughter-in-law and wife in a traditional Indian household, while missing her old life before her marriage. Modeling agencies won't even look at Esha, while all she wants to be is on the cover of a magazine. And finally, the most stoic of the bunch, Military Uncle is trying to make amends with his estranged son, but keeps getting shut down despite his best efforts.

All it takes is one evil boss, a sense of utter hopelessness and a drunk driving accident for God to give them the wake up call they've all been waiting for. Are one near-death experience and a heavenly wake-up call enough to turn their lives around?

Chetan Bhagat's second novel has an interesting premise, but gets mired down with a flippant tone and a rushed timeline. Reminiscent of the angst that character Rob Gordon suffers over his ruined relationships in Nick Hornby's HIGH FIDELITY, ONE NIGHT AT THE CALL CENTER straddles the line between Lad Lit and a novel peppered with black humor. Overtones of hatred towards the United States and the constant insulting of "stupid Americans" make a bitter pill for U.S. readers to swallow.