It even appears that Changez has gained his entry into upper class society through his burgeoning relationship with the beautiful Erica, the daughter of a wealthy New York investment banker. He appears to be well on his way up the ladder of success when the World Trade Centre comes tumbling down.

His reaction to their collapse astounds him; he finds himself curiously elated that someone has had the gumption to strike at the United States. Perhaps it is because he is in Manila at the time on a job for the company and had just been unsettled to find himself being lumped into the category of "American Oppressor" by a Filipino. When thinking about it after he felt like he was faking and that in reality he was much more akin to that Filipino than he was to his co-workers.

Whatever the reason,  he is confused and dismayed by his reactions and realizes he must hide them from his co-workers, who will of course not understand them in the least. As the situation in the world disintegrates, and America bullies Pakistan into being an ally in the war against Afghanistan, he begins to find it harder and harder to do his job.

Compounding this is the fact that the destruction of the towers has caused Erica to suffer a relapse into a near-catatonic state that she had entered two years earlier upon the death of the love of her life. Just as America wants to live in a world of the past where it is invulnerable and able not to be concerned about anything but its own interests, Erica wants to live in a world where her former beau is still alive.

She retreats inside her head and pushes all other considerations aside, just as her homeland obsesses on trying to restore something that is irrevocably lost, not caring about the expense or what it will cause others to suffer. Although Changez continues to try to work he realizes he is only going through the motions. He can no longer put the blinkers on that prevent him from seeing how many lives his job affects in terms of layoffs, lost pensions, and businesses closed forever.

So all of this sounds fairly typical, doesn't it? What's unusual is the manner in which Mohsin Hamid has chosen to have Changez tell his story. He recounts it over tea and food to a strange American he meets in a market place in his hometown in Pakistan. It's obviously some amount of time after the events he is recounting to his visitor and at first his rationale for doing so isn't clear.