Who is Ulrich in the novel, The Man Without Qualities II: The Like of It Now Happens?

Ulrich is the main character of the novel. He is a young man, but is presented as being neither the youngest nor anywhere near the oldest. He is used to model the idea of the man without qualities. Somehow there is the unspoken question of whether or not Ulrich really has no qualities or if he is just an idealistic young man trying to be or to become something that may be true but might also be false.