 Clay , the protagonist of Less Than Zero , " once a paralyzed observer , is now a more active character and has grown to be a narcissist " . Clay 's narcissism emerges , according to Ellis , because Ellis as a writer " wasn 't that interested in the other characters , and neither is Clay . " For the author , his became " an exploration of intense narcissism . " In 2010 , Clay is now a " successful screenwriter " with the " occasional producer credit " . He returns to LA to help cast The Listeners ( reminiscent of Ellis ' involvement with the 2009 film adaptation of his short story collection The Informers ) . Now 45 , and no longer a disaffected teen , Clay is described by Details as " arguably worse than American Psycho 's Patrick Bateman " ; Ellis says that he " wouldn 't disagree " with this because Bateman 's crimes are ambiguous . In terms of Clay 's psychology , Ellis notes his preponderance for a " masochistic cycle of control and rejection and seduction and inevitable pain " , which " is something he gets off on because he 's ... a masochist and not a romantic . " The Los Angeles Times notes how Clay " shares biographical details with Ellis " , a successful party @-@ boy , who in 1985 was " often conflated with his fictional counterpart . " Ellis asserts to the contrary , " I 'm not really Clay . " As opposed to his portrayal in Less Than Zero , Imperial Bedrooms makes it more abundantly clear that Clay is as manipulative as those around him ; he is , in Ellis ' words , " guilty " . As in Less Than Zero , Clay has " stuck to thinking and feeling as little as possible " , " fending off the enemy of emotion with regular doses of alcohol and sedatives such as ambien , living with a kind of psychic " locked @-@ in " syndrome . " As in Zero and Psycho , the novel also poses the question of Clay 's reality , The Independent asking " Is Clay really being followed or is he being dogged by a guilty conscience for crimes committed , even when they are crimes of inaction ? " Over the novel , " Clay shifts from damaged to depraved " ; a " final scene in Imperial Bedrooms of unremitting torture ... enacted by Clay on two beautiful teenagers who are bought and systematically abused " demonstrates " Clay 's graduation from a passively colluding observer to active perpetrator ... who either indulges in torture or fantasizes about it . " 
