The narration follows multiple perspectives and is told non-linearly jumping between the contemporary 2011 and the past of both Samuel and his mother.

The Nix is an American epic novel in ten parts that follows community college professor of English, Samuel Andresen-Anderson who is struggling to find meaning in his life in the years following his failure to write a book which he had already been paid an advance for.

Samuel seeks comfort in junk food, an acerbic inner-monologue, and a Second-Life-style internet game called Elfscape and generally struggles to find motivation or self-respect.

One day, Samuel discovers that the mother who abandoned him has become a radical leftist activist who is under arrest for assaulting a public figure.

The book captures various periods of his mother's life and touches on many themes including isolation, friendship, love, life purpose, the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, feminine oppression, and the digital age.