Jerry Cornelius, a time traveler who is able to assume many identities, must prey on others to maintain his image stability.

"... While not reaching the heights of language or assured experimentation of W.S. Burroughs, “Atrocity Exhibition” era Ballard, or Borges, it should be know that the Jerry Cornelius stories are way more fun, as Jerry and his cast of players turn 20th century atrocity and culture into wild theater. The world ends over and over, wars are always being fought, music blaring, awesome outfits are worn, science fiction gadgets buzz and scream, they kill each other over and over, time blurs, and we rotate through this world over and over again from a variety of permutations. All possibilities are explored.... " -review

The series draws plot elements from Moorcock's Elric series, as well as the Commedia dell'Arte. Moorcock hints in many places that Cornelius may be an aspect of the Eternal Champion. Characters from the Cornelius novels show up in much of Moorcock's other fiction: The Dancers at the End of Time series has a character called Jherek Carnelian who is the son of Lord Jagged of Canaria, and there are several hints in the series that Lord Jagged may be a guise of Jerry Cornelius; the Cornelius-series character Una Persson also appears in the "Dancers" series and the Oswald Bastable books, and may also be the character Oona in the later Elric books; Colonel Pyat has his own non-SF series of books by Moorcock, beginning with Byzantium Endures.

At least five other variants of the name occur in other Moorcock works (Jerry Cornell, Jehamiah Cohnalias, Jhary-a-Conel (Corum, Runestaff), Lord Jagged of Canaria from The Dancers at the End of Time, and the anagrammatic Corum Jhaelen Irsei). A space pirate named Captain Cornelius (who like Jerry is associated with the commedia dell'arte character Pierrot) appears in Moorcock's Doctor Who novel, The Coming of the Terraphiles.