Exile: London Crawling, Bad Blood Summary

London Crawling begins with Renton's arrival in London, having decided to get out of Edinburgh. He arrives at a friend's flat only to discover that his friend is not there. Annoyed, Renton goes to a nearby pub to ask if the barman has seen the friend. When it becomes clear that the friend may not even live in the area, Renton mentally scrolls through a list of acquaintances, deciding whom he should contact. After making a few contacts, Renton resigns himself to spending the night at an all-night porn theater he knows.

In the wee hours of the morning, while sitting through his third pornographic film, Renton is propositioned by a middle-aged Italian man called Gi. He declines, while privately considering whether he should have sex with a man for the experience. Gi offers to...