[3] In a post-apocalyptic future, a male zombie still in the early stages of decay lives in a community of the dead in an abandoned airport near the city.

After the collapse of human civilization, zombies hunt for the living, seeking to eat their brains; doing so allows them to relive the memories, feelings, and thoughts of their prey.

R, a Fleshy, is unusual as he shows distaste for eating human flesh, and can form several coherent syllables in one breath, and collects various objects from the outside world that he hoards in his "house", a Boeing 747 airliner parked at the airport.

R feeds her food from the airport's restaurant, entertains her with his treasures, including a record player, and Julie tries to teach him to drive a car which R has managed to get started.

However, several Boneys, attracted by the noise, arrive, and one of them shows R some old photos of the dead and living fighting each other, telling him that they need to maintain the status quo.

During a party in the community, R becomes intoxicated, and, no longer able to control his zombie instincts, attacks a guard, infecting him and causing a small outbreak in the stadium.

Grigio, not believing that a cure for the plague exists and thinking that R has infected Julie, attempts to kill them both, but is stopped by one of his own soldiers and attacked by a Boney.

The epilogue reveals that in the aftermath of the battle, the word about the origins of the plague was spread among the other surviving communities, allowing for a true chance at a cure, and R looks forward to what the future now brings, for the Living and the Dead both.

Paste Magazine said, "Marion explores the meaning of humanity through R's journey towards personhood, a tale that gets grander in scale as his empathy builds and the book's true villains—cynicism, apathy and status quo—are revealed.

"[4] On January 28, 2013, Zola Books published Isaac Marion's novella e-book prequel to Warm Bodies, titled The New Hunger.

[9] The first of these, titled The Burning World, was released on February 7, 2017, and Marion launched an elaborate campaign to encourage preordering through his own web store, creating original story materials as rewards.

[11] Actor Nicholas Hoult starred as the zombie R in a feature film adaptation written and directed by Jonathan Levine and released in February 2013.