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Phileas Fogg is an upstanding English gentleman who spends his days playing whist, a card game, with his friends at the Reform Club, and spends his nights alone in his large upscale townhome on Saville Row in London. Fogg has no wife and no children and mostly keeps to himself. An air of mystery surrounds Fogg wherever he goes because of his extreme reticence. He keeps his thoughts and his heart well hidden.

Fogg follows a strict routine every day: He has tea and toast at 8:23 a.m., shaves at 9:37 a.m., and gets dressed at 9:40 a.m. He leaves the house at 11:30 a.m. to join his friends at the Reform Club and returns home at midnight. Every clock and watch he owns is synchronized down to the second. One October morning in 1872, Fogg fires his servant for bringing him shaving water that is two degrees too cold. Jean Passepartout, a Frenchman, arrives shortly after, looking for employment. Even though he is four minutes late, Fogg hires him on the spot. Passepartout’s first job is to get Fogg ready in time to leave the house by 11:30 a.m.

Passepartout feels relieved to find the orderly state of Fogg’s home. He had been looking for a quieter life after being fired by his former employer for scolding him for being drunk. Passepartout has held many hectic jobs—circus performer, gym teacher, and fireman—and just wants rest. He’s further encouraged when he finds that Fogg’s shoes and clothes are numbered by the time of year they should be worn. Passepartout thinks Fogg must be some kind of machine-like human.

That morning while playing whist at the club, Fogg and his friends overhear news that a robber disguised as a gentleman has stolen 55,000 pounds from the Bank of England. One of the members, Andrew Stuart, remarks that the robber is probably long gone, since the world is so large and there are plenty of places to hide. This comment piques Fogg’s interest. Fogg says the world “was once” large, but it is no longer so big. He says that it is now possible to travel across the world in eighty days due to modern advances in transportation. Fogg’s friends scoff at him, which emboldens him to make a daring wager: He bets 20,000 pounds, all the money he has in the bank, that he can travel around the world in eighty days. The men accept his wager and agree to find him at the Reform Club, in the same room, at the same time, eighty days later, on December 21 at 8:45 p.m. or they will collect the bet.

Meanwhile, London police officer Detective Fix has a theory that Fogg is actually the thief after hearing about Fogg’s wager, which has made news. Fix’s rumor gains traction throughout the public, especially since Fogg is so quiet and reserved and no one knows much about him. Fix is even more motivated by the reward offered for catching Fogg—2,000 pounds and 5 percent of the recovered money. Fix follows Fogg on his travels, the first stop being at Suez, Egypt, where Fix waits for a warrant for Fogg’s arrest to arrive.

With Passepartout in tow and Fix in hot pursuit, Fogg continues to make his way across the world. Soon, Fogg arrives in India, where he finds that modern advances in transportation haven’t evolved as much as he thought and he is forced to travel by elephant for part of the way. Fogg sees Hindu priests who are on the way to a human sacrifice and, with Passepartout’s help, is able to save an English woman, Aouda, from being killed. Aouda joins the men in their travels. Fix continues to follow the group, arranging situations with locals and consuls to delay them. When Passepartout commits a crime by wearing shoes in a Hindu pagoda, Fix arranges to have the Hindus bring him to court and have Fogg charged and punished on behalf of Passepartout. The plan fails because the wealthy Fogg is able to make bail for himself and Passepartout.

The group continues toward Hong Kong by way of Singapore, dodging obstacles but still making good time along the way. Fix finally reveals himself to Passepartout and his belief that Fogg is a criminal, hoping to enlist Passepartout’s help in delaying Fogg until the arrest warrant arrives. Passepartout is appalled and, in a show of loyalty to his master, refuses to be complicit with Fix. Later, however, Passepartout relents, realizing Fix can help them get to London faster, which would help ensure that Fogg wins the bet. The group continues on toward Japan, where Passepartout gets caught up for a day with a troupe of clowns, and then across the Pacific, landing in San Francisco.

While Fogg, Passepartout, and Aouda make their way across America, the land and people pose similar challenges to those faced in India. Fogg suffers insults from boisterous Americans, attacks from the local Sioux tribes, weak bridges, faulty transportation, and sledge rides across snowy, wolf-ridden prairies. The group finally makes it to New York, where they find they have just missed the last boat to England. Fogg makes a deal with a reluctant Captain Speedy to get them to Bordeaux, France, but ends up taking control of Speedy’s ship to steer it toward Liverpool. When the ship runs out of fuel at sea, Fogg orders the crew members to burn parts of the ship to make the last leg of the trip.

Despite all his mad, daring attempts and hundreds of pounds spent to make it back to London in time, Fogg feels crestfallen to find that he arrives in London too late. He’s lost the bet. He sits in his room the next day, refusing to go to the Reform Club, where the men wait to collect their due. Aouda, encouraged by Fogg’s wistfulness, asks him if he’d like to make her his wife. Even though Fogg is poor now, she’s still deeply in love with him and wants to be his companion. Fogg, his heart now opened, sheds a tear, agrees to marry Aouda, and says, “I love you.” He sends Passepartout to Reverend Wilson to make arrangements for their wedding. While speaking to Reverend Wilson, Passepartout learns that it is, in fact, a day earlier than he believed. Because Passepartout refused to set his watch to local time zones, he has led them to gain a day on their travel across the world. Fogg rushes to the club to inform his friends that he’s won.

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