Moved to Paris in 1952, Trocchi existentialism environments frequented by participating in the edition of the famous magazine Merlin, who collaborated on authors such as Samuel Beckett, Jean Genet, Jean-Paul Sartre and Henry Miller. It was there where he became a close friend of Guy Debord, who had been fascinated by the idea deployed by Trocchi in his text The Invisible insurrection of a million minds about a large army in a state of incubation, although latent and ready to attack perfecting the final assault on class society. That connected with the ideas of the total subversion of the life and art claimed by the Situationist International. The text was the support and recognition of writers, artists and intellectuals as diverse as Picasso and Salvador Dalí.

The search for alternative realities through the use of heroin and other substances earned him an arrest for alleged possession and drug trafficking. An official statement of support signed by all of the Situationist International, came to say that the man, who became known as the 'Scottish Burroughs "was undoubtedly" the most creative and intelligent artist from England today ".