Peter Ingersoll (Jerry Lewis) is living a humdrum existence as a family man and insurance salesman when he finds out from his doctor friend, Scott (Peter Lawford), that he has a terminal illness. Thinking that his life is nearly over, he lives life to the fullest, building up insurmountable debt. When the debt becomes too much, Scott tells Peter that he is actually not sick. To remove the debt, Scott comes up with the idea to stage Peter's death, allowing him to return after the statute of limitations is done. But when Peter finds out that his wife (Anne Francis) and Scott are having an affair and that this was all a scheme to get rid of him, Peter has some work to do.