Bed follows an acerbic character, Phil, through the five most significant sexual relationships of his life. His lovers include schoolboy Kane, 14; earnest university student Daisy, 19; reluctant trophy-wife Grace, 34; party-boy Drew, 29; and beautiful old septuagenarian Flo.

A blackly comic exploration of masculine sexuality, the story is told through pillow-talk on five different beds, which represent Phil's attitudes to sexuality at age 14, 21, 30, 46 and 67. The narrative revisits each of these relationships three times before Phil's death in the last scene.