Mark Renton is a heroin addict who lives in Edinburgh, he lives with his junkie friends Simon, Daniel and Alison who has a baby daughter Dawn, Dawns' father is one of the three men in the flat! Mark would really like to kick his habit but in the mean time he resorts to shoplifting and eventually mugging with a friend called Begbie in order to finance his addiction. When Mark overdoses he is taken to hospital, later when his parents take him home they lock him in a room and force him to undergo 'cold turkey'. Now clean, Mark has to get away so he moves to London but his old 'friends' come to visit but then they are summoned back to Edinburgh for the funneral of another friend who has died of AIDS. While in Edinburgh, Begbie buys heroin from some Russian sailors, when they return to London the heroin is sold for £16,000, Mark sees his chance, he takes the money whilst the others are sleepingÉ