Jerry Cornelius, a multifaceted and amoral secret agent, navigates a chaotic, collapsing London as he attempts to survive the machinations of his own family and the encroaching entropy of a dying world. Cornelius operates within a surreal, fragmented reality where the boundaries of time, space, and identity are fluid. He faces opposition from his siblings and various political factions, all while the physical world around him undergoes bizarre, entropic transformations. The narrative employs a non-linear, kaleidoscopic framework that mirrors the instability of the setting, forcing the protagonist to adapt constantly to shifting social and physical landscapes.

Discussion often centers on the book's role as a hallmark of the New Wave science fiction movement, noted for its rejection of traditional linear storytelling in favor of stylistic experimentation. Readers frequently highlight the disorienting, hallucinatory atmosphere that defines the Jerry Cornelius series. Critics often point to the work's biting satire of late-twentieth-century societal structures and its preoccupation with the concept of entropy. Many readers find the lack of a conventional plot resolution to be a deliberate choice that reinforces the themes of chaos and instability present throughout the text.