Less Than Zero (1985) is narrated by Clay, a young student of liberal arts who has returned to his hometown of Los Angeles for Christmas. He is picked up from the airport by his long-term girlfriend, Blair.
Clay’s family is evidently wealthy, residing in an affluent upper-class neighborhood. Nobody is home when he arrives, and he retreats to his bedroom, which has remained the same since before he left for college; adorned with posters, magazines, and expensive gadgets. Clay attempts to call Julian, his longtime friend; however, he gets no answer and goes to bed to the sound of MTV music videos.
A large portion of the novel consists of episodes from Clay’s life over the Christmas period, typically involving partying at bars, clubs and the houses belonging to his friends, all of which seem to have parents who are either not present or do not seem to care. Clay brings his friend Daniel, a student from his college to a party with him. He meets with another of his friends, Trent, a successful model, and reconnects with his drug dealer, Rip. At this party, it becomes clear that Daniel is uneasy and remarks to Clay that he wants to “go back”, though he never clarifies specifically where.
Clay’s relationship with his family is interspersed throughout his hedonistic pursuits. His mother is distant and noticeably unhappy, expressing emotion through materialism and taking her children on shopping trips. Clay’s father is absent from most of the story, seemingly occupied with work. The one instance in which Clay encounters his father involves an awkward lunch the two have together, during which Clay notices the extensive plastic surgery his father has undergone to appear youthful.
Throughout the novel, Clay visits a psychiatrist, which results in him acting erratically, from crying to discussing bizarre fantasies. However, the psychiatrist doesn’t seem fazed by this, nor does he seem to care. As the novel progresses, Clay’s promiscuity becomes apparent as he engages in various flings with men and women despite still being in a relationship with Blair. Clay copes with the rigorous partying with copious amounts of drugs, primarily cocaine. These events are disjointedly interwoven throughout the novel, giving the story a fragmented nature. Another instance sees Clay driving aimlessly around the city, when he is disturbed by a billboard displaying the words “Disappear Here.” This phrase continues to haunt Clay throughout the novel.
Clay becomes increasingly distant from Blair, even going out of his way to tell his friends that they are no longer together. He starts to dissociate from the world around him, drifting through encounters with his friends that gradually become more extreme and disturbing. He begins having nightmares of sinking in a large puddle of mud, becomes paranoid that his house will collapse in a mudslide, and has long recollections about memories with his grandmother, who died of cancer. One of these encounters involves Clay and Blair witnessing their friend Muriel injecting heroin. Another sees Blair hitting a coyote with her car, to which Clay stands for ten minutes watching the animal bleed to death. In of the most disturbing moments in the novel, Clay and a group of men gather around to watch a snuff film in which a young girl is tortured. This is too much for Clay, who leaves, while Daniel, who has become increasingly distant and alienated, stays. Later, Daniel announces that he won’t be returning to school with Clay, claiming that he never felt like he was there, and that his parents don’t seem to care what he does.
Over the course of the novel, Clay has tried to reunite with Julian, a close friend of his from school. Many of these meetings have ended abruptly, with Julian;s behavior being erratic and concerning. After loaning Julian some money for what he claims is an abortion, Clay eventually gets a hold of Julian for repayment. It is revealed that Julian is in debt to a man called Finn, a drug dealer who is enabling Julian’s heroin addiction.
Both Julian and Clay travel to Finn’s penthouse apartment on Wilshire Boulevard. It becomes clear that Julian has turned to prostitution to repay Finn, and that Finn is keeping Julain addicted to heroin so that he will remain dependent on him. Finn orders Julian to visit a client and asks him to bring Clay along. Clay understands that he could leave at any time, but is too morbidly curious to see what will happen next. What results is Clay's dissociation while Julian sleeps with a male client. When Julian tries to retrieve some money from Finn to repay Clay, Finn berates and beats Julian before forcibly injecting him with heroin. Clay leaves.
Towards the end of the novel, Clay and his friends have devolved into extreme acts of hedonism. They gather around and gawk at a dead body in an alleyway, and when they gather at Rip’s apartment, Clay is horrified at the sight of a young girl who has been tied up and drugged. Clay leaves the room, and when Rip follows him, he asks, “Why?”. Rip justifies himself, saying that if you want something, you should take it. When Clay retorts that Rip has everything he could want, Rip responds that he doesn’t have anything to lose. Trent stays behind with Rip, implying that he, too, will participate in the abuse of the girl.
Before leaving for college, Clay meets Blair for lunch. They finally discuss their relationship, where Blair asks if Clay truly loved her. Clay attempts to skirt around the topic before announcing that he never loved her and never did. Blair understands that Clay was never present, remarking that Clay is a beautiful-looking boy, but that’s just about it. Clay attempts to open to Blair, confessing that he feels nothing and that nothing truly makes him happy. Following this, Blair leaves; however, she calls Clay the night before he leaves for college. She pleads for him not to go, but Clay is adamant. When he says he will be back for the summer, Blair knows that Clay is lying.
As he leaves, Clay reminisces on a song by a local band which details the city of Los Angeles being engulfed in flames in an apocalyptic scene; images so horrifying that they never leave his mind.
