“Contempt” or “A Ghost At Noon”, is an Italian existential novel by Alberto Moravia that came out in 1954. Young Riccardo Molteni, who sees himself as an intellectual writer, does work he despises preparing film scripts for producers he despises. All this to support his new wife Emilia, the new flat he has taken, the new car he has bought, the maid who cooks and cleans for them and the secretary who comes in to type for him.