Despite the essentially elaborate scope of the plot revealed in the novel's conclusion, the narrative focuses almost exclusively on the bleak and unrewarding day-to-day lives of the protagonists, two half-brothers who barely know each other.

Michel is raised by his paternal grandmother and becomes an introverted molecular biologist, who is ultimately responsible for the discoveries which lead to the elimination of sexual reproduction.

The novel sold hundreds of thousands of copies and propelled Houellebecq into the French intellectual and literary spotlight during the summer and autumn of 1998.

The vivid, almost pornographic, sexual descriptions were a frequent target of criticism, and Houellebecq himself attracted both scorn and praise for his erratic proclamations and behaviour in television interviews and the like.

[3] In April 2008, Houellebecq's estranged mother, Lucie Ceccaldi, returned to France to publish The Innocent One, a rebuttal of his alleged mis-characterization of her parenting as contained in the novel.

France 2 produced the television film The Elementary Particles which was directed by Antoine Garceau and stars Guillaume Gouix and Jean-Charles Clichet.