In this paper, we propose WAQM, a novel XML-based multiagent system for Quality of Service (QoS) management in wireless networks. WAQM is characterised by the following features: (i) it handles a user profile and exploits it jointly with suitable network resource management techniques to maximise user satisfaction; (ii) it is semi-automatic; (iii) it exploits XML for guaranteeing a light, versatile and standard mechanism for information representation, storing and exchange. In this paper, the basic features of the system are discussed into detail. Furthermore, the main results of a performance evaluation study aiming at comparing it with alternative agent-based approaches for handling user access to telecommunications networks are reported.