Is it to do with the atomic structure or something similar, or am I completely along the wrong lines?
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Inertia is related to the notion of causality, not the makeup of an object (a non-quantum object to be precise). In order for something to happen to an object, something has to cause it to happen. If there is no cause, there is no effect. So an object at rest will continue to stay at rest unless and until something causes it to no longer be at rest, and an object in motion along a particular trajectory will remain in motion along that particular trajectory unless and until something causes it to no longer remain in motion along that particular trajectory.
Think of a bowling ball – if it’s just sitting in the rack, it will continue to just sit there (at rest relative to the Earth) unless and until a bowler picks it up and starts moving it. The bowler applies force to change the speed and direction of travel of the bowling ball, but that was not going to happen unless and until that force was applied. Has nothing to do with what the bowling ball is made of or the properties of the atoms that make up the ball (except that the atoms all stay together). Now if the ball is thrown down the lane, it will continue to move down the lane unless and until a force acts to stop its movement (friction from the air and floor initially, contact with the pins and finally gravity pulling it off the lane at the end (leaving aside the issue of gravity not being a force for the sake of simplicity).
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