Molloy, a sordid, bedridden vagrant, recalls a long bicycle ride in search of his mother. He describes sucking on stones, falling in love, getting arrested, killing a dog. Moran, a private detective, sets out to look for Molloy. But as Moran's physical and mental state deteriorate, his narrative starts to mirror Molloy's in mysterious ways.

Molloy is the first of the three great novels Samuel Beckett produced during his 'frenzy of writing' in the late 1940s. The others are Malone Dies and The Unnamable.