The First Circle is narrated by an omniscient third-person narrator aware of each character's history, thoughts, and sensations. Like One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, this novel occurs over a short time: the weekend of December 24-26, 1949. At first the book recounts three separate stories: the zeks' life at Mavrino, Innokenty's warning phone call, and the security forces' attempts to track down the telephone traitor. Eventually these plots come together: Teams of zeks work on rival voice identification systems as the fate of Stalin's lieutenants — as well as of Innokenty — depends on which team succeeds.

Although the plots intersect, none of the important characters interact. This structure creates the "polyphonic novel" in which the novelist creates several three-dimensional characters independently. Because their paths do not cross directly, they are equals. They are not subordinated to each other as protagonist, antagonist, or foil.

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