We propose a novel, to the best of our knowledge, and fast adaptive layer-based (ALB) method for generating a computer-generated hologram (CGH) with accurate depth information. A complex three-dimensional (3D) object is adaptively divided into layers along the depth direction according to its own non-uniformly distributed depth coordinates, which reduces the depth error caused by the conventional layer-based method. Each adaptive layer generates a single-layer hologram using the angular spectrum method for diffraction, and the final hologram of a complex three-dimensional object is obtained by superimposing all the adaptive layer holograms. A hologram derived with the proposed method is referred to as an adaptive layer-based hologram (ALBH). Our demonstration shows that the desired reconstruction can be achieved with 52 adaptive layers in 8.7 s, whereas the conventional method requires 397 layers in 74.9 s.