It was made into a motion picture in 2004 (also called Layer Cake), directed by Matthew Vaughn and written for the screen by Connolly himself.

His retirement plan is complicated by a large shipment of stolen ecstasy, the German neo-Nazis who want the drugs back and revenge on anyone they hold responsible for the theft, the unpredictable and often outrageous personalities of his friends, and his boss, kingpin Jimmy Price, who charges him with the task of recovering the missing daughter of a wealthy socialite.

Until Jeremy arrives, readers are introduced to various characters and are given a brief look into their histories, including Jimmy Price; Mister Mortimer (Morty), who served five and a quarter years of an eight-year sentence for being caught while disposing of suicide victim Kilburn Jerry after a party; young Clarkie, whom the narrator expects to take his place when he retires; and Terry, friend to all.

The narrator also explains to the readers how he made it to where he is—starting small, growing in rank, keeping quiet and making sure everything is strictly business.

Narrator is invited to Mortimer's porn shop, Loveland, and interrupts an argument between Mort and an employee, Nobby, who is confused on what to do over a shipment from the Netherlands of low-quality sex gear that they did not order.

Mort then drives the narrator to a fancy, out-of-the-way restaurant called Pepi's Barn, the haunt of "don" Jimmy Price, who has demanded to meet with him.

Charlotte (aka Charlie) is the daughter of Edward Temple, a wealthy business contractor and socialite whom Price has known since childhood.

Price also tells the narrator about a crew of gangsters who have recently acquired two million high quality Ecstasy pills from Amsterdam.

The pair of them have become steadily more paranoid due to their cocaine use, and this paranoia leads Slasher to attack a member of the local council with pepper spray when he visits their home.

Sydney thinks the story is hilarious, but the narrator panics upon realising that the Duke probably had his number along with Mister Mortimer's, and the police could very well have information on them now.

The narrator sets about finding a buyer for the ecstasy pills, and he, Mortimer and Clarkie go to Liverpool to meet with Trevor and Shanks, two powerful North England drug dealers.

Shanks tells the narrator that the Germans have unleashed an assassin named Klaus to recover the pills and eliminate the thieves.

The narrator has a nightmare involving Jimmy Price and awakes to a television news story about the brutal torture and murder of a boatman named Van Tuck.

The narrator and Morty receive a call from Cody, telling them that he has located Kinky, Charlie's boyfriend, in a flat in King's Cross.

The narrator and Morty retire to a café, where they run into Freddy Hurst, a fat and slovenly ex-gangster who is down on his luck.

After Kilburn Jerry killed himself and Morty was caught disposing of the body, Freddy was about to go away for about 12 years to serve concurrent sentences.

Eddie plays the narrator a recording in which Jimmy speaks with Albie Carter, a member of the Southeast Regional Crime Squad.

Gene flies into a rage when he hears what has happened, and dispatches some of his own men to find and kill Klaus, which they do.

The narrator then contracts Cody to organise a false police raid on the Yahoos' hideout to steal back the pills.

Temple then delivers a speech to the narrator, explaining the nature of the drugs game, crime and life in general: "You're born, you take shit.

The man tells the narrator to abandon the drugs trade and leave Britain or else he would find himself in prison for a very long time.

A 2004 film adaptation of the same name, directed by Matthew Vaughn and starring Daniel Craig, had a largely unchanged storyline and received positive reviews.