老间谍肯迪格(Walter Matthau饰)对于新来的中情局上司不满,也厌倦了间谍生活,于是决定离开那个鬼地方。因要撰书揭露中情局的黑暗,为免后顾之忧,又制造了自己坠机身亡的“事实”。最后他所出的书在全球大卖,从此携美周游世界过着快乐逍遥的生活。CIA agent Miles Kendig decides to get out of 'the game' and to ensure he's left alone he threatens to send his memoirs to the world's intelligence agencies. When the CIA doesn't believe him, he calls their bluff and starts writing and sending out chapters one by one. Realizing that their operations would be compromised, the CIA (led by Myerson and Cutter) set out to put an end to Kendig's plan by whatever means necessary. The heart of the movie follows a game of cat and mouse between a fumbling CIA and an artful Kendig.