Willy Loman is an ageing travelling salesman. Returning home from another exhausting and unsuccessful trip he slumps on the bed next to his wife and tells her about his day....

Willy and Linda's sons, Biff and Happy have returned home for a visit. Biff, their eldest son, is an enormous disappoint to Willy because despite being such a golden boy in his youth he has failed to make a success of his life.

As the night continues, Willy becomes immersed in the past and is transported to a time when his sons were boys. He talks about his dead brother Ben who made his fortune diamond mining in Africa. When Willy becomes angry and upset, Charlie, a good friend and neighbour comes over.

All the family become increasingly distressed about Willy's behaviour and Linda reveals that he has been trying to kill himself. However, when Willy returns from a walk he is delighted to discover that Biff intends to see Bill Oliver, a previous employer, about borrowing some money from him to start a business.

The next day and bursting with pride over Biff's plan, Willy decides to approach his own boss, Howard Wagner, to tell him he no longer wants to travel. Shocked at the outcome of this meeting, Willy's mind once again lapses back to the past and Biff's final year at school.

That evening at a restaurant where Willy and his sons have arranged to meet, Happy begins flirting with a girl before Biff comes in, distraught. When the truth is finally revealed about Biff's meeting with Oliver, Willy retreats into the bathroom where he has another flashback. When he finally emerges in a daze, Biff and Happy have left with the restaurant with a couple of girls.

Linda is still awake when Biff and Happy return home much later that night. She is furious they left their father alone in the restaurant. Meanwhile Willy is deeply confused and is outside planting seeds in the garden, his mind once again in the past. He starts talking to Ben about how if he dies his life insurance money will give Biff the start he needs to be a success.

Inside the house all Biff's frustrations and contempt for his father surface and he decides to leave and end all contact with his parents. He confronts Willy with the rubber hose his father has been using to inhale gas in his suicide attempts. However, Willy slips back into his conversation with Ben who is telling him that suicide is the best way out.

The last thing the family hears is Willy's car starting and then driving off.