Lanark, the novel by Alasdair Gray, comprises four books that are arranged in sequence from book three, one, two and four. All the books contain notable events and stories that are somehow interrelated.

In the beginning, Lanark wakes in a train carriage, without memory of his past or his name; he only gets his name from a photograph.

He arrives in a strange town (Unthank) with disappearing people and no daylight. The people in the town also suffer from strange diseases.

He gets infected with dragonhide disease, a strange illness that makes his skin scaly, caused by his repressed feelings.

He is swallowed by the earth, which spits him out in a strange hospital, where some of the patients are used to provide food and power.

As Duncan Thaw he is unable to build relationships with members of the opposite sex, leading him to depression, then suicide by drowning.

The apocalypse in Unthank that he cannot prevent and his resignation to his fate can be considered as some of the notable events in the novel.