Fight Club is the story of an unnamed protagonist, who is also the narrator of the story. The book begins with the narrator suffering from insomnia due to work related stress and continuous business trips. Upon the advice of his doctor to find a support group to help him deal with his condition, the narrator begins to attend a support group for cancer by posing himself as a victim and the end result of this venture gave him the relief he needed for insomnia. As the story progresses, the narrator's apartment is blown up and he moves in with Tyler Durden, a charismatic blond he meets on a business trip. In return for letting the narrator stay with him, Tyler asks the narrator to fight with him, which eventually leads to the formation of the Fight Club, a place wherein two people vent out their frustration by using fighting as a recreational event. The Fight Club has eight rules that must be followed by all members at any cost.

As the story progresses, a love triangle ensues between the narrator, Tyler and Marla Singer, the narrator's former fellow pretender at the support group meetings. Meanwhile, the Fight Club becomes a nationwide presence and Tyler uses it as means of spreading his anti-consumerism ideas and recruits fight club members to pull elaborate pranks on American corporates and forms an organization called "Project Mayhem". The Narrator who actively takes part in all these, slowly turns against Tyler after noticing all the increasing destructiveness and harm the activities caused. As the Narrator is faced with the terrifying truth behind Tyler, the narrator fights against all odds to thwart Tyler attempts at chaos.