In 2169, people are genetically engineered to stop aging on their 25th birthday, when a one-year countdown on their forearm begins. When it reaches zero, the person "times out" and dies instantly. Time has thus become the universal currency, transferred directly between people or stored in "time capsules". Several major areas called Time Zones exist; Dayton is the poorest, a manufacturing "ghetto" where people rarely have over 24 hours on their clocks, whereas in New Greenwich, people have enough time to be essentially immortal. Will Salas, a 28-year-old Dayton factory worker, lives with his 50-year-old mother Rachel. One night, he rescues a drunken 105-year-old man named Henry Hamilton from 75-year-old Fortis and his Minutemen, a group of time-robbing thugs. In a secret location, Hamilton, who has 116 years on his clock but is tired of living, reveals to Will that the people of New Greenwich hoard most of the time, while constantly increasing prices to keep poorer people dying. The next morning, he transfers all but 5 minutes of his time to a sleeping Will, then times out by falling off a bridge before Will can stop him. Raymond Leon, the 75-year-old leader of a unit of police-like Timekeepers, erroneously assumes Will robbed and killed Hamilton. Will visits his friend Borel, who warns him against having so much time in Dayton, and gives him 10 years, one for each year of their friendship, before going to meet his mother to leave for New Greenwich together. However, the city bus fare has risen from 1 to 2 hours, and Rachel, having used all but 90 minutes of her time to pay off a 2-day loan, is short on bus fare to return to Dayton. The uncaring driver forces her to run back to Dayton, but she arrives a few seconds too late for Will to save her and times out in his arms. Heartbroken and angry, Will vows revenge for his mother's death by taking the people of New Greenwich for everything they have. In New Greenwich, Will meets 110-year-old time-loaning businessman Philippe Weis and his 27-year-old daughter Sylvia at a casino. While playing poker, Will nearly times out but eventually wins over a millennium in a flawless gamble. Sylvia invites him to a party, and Will buys a new sports car and drives there. Raymond arrives and arrests Will, who insists his innocence in Hamilton's death. Rather than attempting to prove Will's guilt, he simply confiscates all but 2 hours of Will's time, explaining it does not belong in Dayton. Will escapes, taking Sylvia to Dayton as a hostage, but Fortis' gang ambushes them, taking most of their time and leaving them with 30 minutes each. Will attempts to get some time back from Borel, but his wife Greta tearfully explains that he has drunk himself to death. They manage to get a day each by selling Sylvia's earrings. Will calls Weis to demand a 1,000-year ransom to be paid into the time-mission for the desperate. When Weis refuses, Will releases Sylvia anyway. Raymond finds Will, but Sylvia shoots him in the arm. Will gives Raymond enough time to survive long enough for his squad to find him and steals his car. Now committed to ending the system, Will and Sylvia rob Weis's time banks, giving the extra time capsules to the needy, but soon realize that they cannot significantly change anything, as prices are simply raised faster to compensate for the extra time. Fortis' gang ambushes them, but Will manages to time out Fortis in an arm wrestling match and then shoot his thugs. He and Sylvia then decide to rob Weis' vault of a 1,000,000-year capsule. Raymond chases them back to Dayton but fails to stop them from distributing the stolen time. Having neglected to download his day's salary, Raymond times out. Will and Sylvia nearly time out themselves, but survive by taking Raymond's salary. TV reports show factories in Dayton shutting down as everyone has enough time and abandons their jobs. Having seen the consequences of his obsession with the pair, Raymond's colleague Jaeger orders the Timekeepers to return home. Will and Sylvia progress to larger banks, still trying to crash the system.