Harry Fabian is a small-time London criminal whose ambition is to be mistaken for an American gangster, but who is such a loser that he is basically inept even at being a moral degenerate. Kersh examines the lives of those around Harry, not yet as corrupt but on the verge of sliding into the pit, showing how they rationalize and finally accept moral degradation as a way of life. Two movie versions of the story (1950 and 1992) mostly threw away Kersh's moral investigations (and plot) while keeping the title.