What is the main conflict in Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell?

In Down and Out in Paris and London, Orwell follows a penniless British writer through two great European cities as he works seventeen-hour workdays in the squalid kitchens of trendy Parisian restaurants. After working himself ragged and never getting ahead, he tries his luck in London where he lives the life of a vagrant, sleeping in lodging houses and taking charity tea at the Salvation Army.