Various factors suggest that this might not be a novel but is instead a memoir based on fact: the Dictionary of National Biography glosses it as such, and in vol. 2, p.79 one of the characters addresses the narrator (who has been unnamed up to that point) as Hill (which is the name of the author), and the appearance of various historical personages who were living at the time (including the Duke of Nelson's adopted daughter).
Recollections follows the travels of an army officer, from his cadet training in London, across the Atlantic and Europe through to the present day. It is comprised in the main of a series of events, anecdotes and dialogues, which are, in the main, linked by no overarching narrative thread. It begins in London, before moving to Ireland, where the narrator lives for several years, and then onto Bristol, Madeira, Jamaica, America (where he fights in the Battle of New Orleans), France and Flanders (where he is one of the forces who prevent the return of Napoleon to power) and ultimately to London. In the course of his travels, the narrator attends various theatrical performances, balls and dinners, the chief point of interest of which are the eccentric characters who also attend. Other notable episodes include his rescue of an escaped slave in America, whom he employs as a servant but then sacks, and his sympathetic treatment of an Irishman who has deserted from the British army.

The narrative contains a wide range of different dialects, including: Scots, Irish English, Cockney, Bristol, Creole and American English. The author relies on well-known stereotypes for Scots, Irish English, Cockney and Creole (e.g. the Bristol speaker's utterances comprise stereotypical West-Country forms). What marks the text out as unusual is its extensive treatment of American English, which is marked by the use of nouns and adjectives relating to religion in adverbial positions ('tarnation bad', 'everlasting stiff'), 'i' for 'oi' (e.g. 'jint' for joint'), and the frequent use of 'calculate' where 'suppose' or 'think' would be expected in contemporary Standard English constructions. In addition to direct speech representation, the text contains some very interesting metalanguistic elements, most notably when the narrator mimics a Barbadian accent, and his claim to have inadvertently acquired an Irish accent while living in Ireland.

Unexpectedly nondialectal characters: In vol. 1, p.153, the narrator claims to have acquired a 'brogue' while living in Ireland, but his direct speech is represented in Standard English. In vol. 1 p.63, Major Murray and Dr. Tully are described as having broad Scots and Irish accents, respectively, but this is not reflected in the orthography.