- Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New impression edition (Mar 1970)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140016481
- ISBN-13: 978-0140016482
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 11.2 x 1.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 48,365 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
First published in 1954, this novel tells the story of Jim Dixon - lower middle-class anti-hero - charting his social gaffes, cultural philistinism, inept relationships and crawling to superiors. The author's other books include "The Old Devils", which won the 1986 Booker Prize.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Jim is an English University lecturer to who despite all his attempts to the contrary, ends up in the most hilarious and ridiculous situations.
I first read this book when I was feeling really down, and it is one of the few I've ever read that made me laugh out aloud!
An excellent classic novel. The rest of the Kingsley Amis books are not a patch on this one. If you enjoy this, I'd suggest you also try "Changing Places" by David Lodge.
Highly recommended !
PS. Did you know in a competition to describe England in the vein of "As American as Apple Pie", the winner was "As English as possible in the circumstances".
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I first read this book years ago and have just re-read it, wondering whether it would still make me crack up. It did! I read ages ago that what makes people laugh is having your characters say or do things that everybody thinks or does, but nobody ever talks about. I still think the episode where Jim burns the sheets, tries to cover it up and dreads getting found out, is absolutely classic. Of course this is practically a historical novel now; anyone with an elderly relative who constantly says, 'We were damn hard up...' should read this. Poor old Jim, wondering whether he can afford another half... For anyone who wasn't there, and doesn't believe it really ever existed, it's also a brilliant insight into the pre-pill, pre shagshagshag era. Read this, pity your aged relatives, and have a really good laugh.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Hmmm, quite a difficult one to review, this one. It's a bumbling, amusing sort of story about a bumbling, amusing sort of fellow - the very 'old-style-British' lecturer Jim Dixon. Basic plot: Jim is trying to up his standing at the university and impress his eccentric superior, Professor Welch, despite being hopelessly inept and pretty much detesting even his own work. Neurotic Margaret is claiming too much of his attention, which is unfortunate as his attention has been captured very much by the rather prim young girlfriend of Welch's odious son Bertrand. Mishaps and misunderstandings ensue as the web of academics and wives and sons and lovers becomes ever more tangled, with Jim trying to keep up at every turn.
It's not as funny as I thought it would be - perhaps some of it went over my head given its age - though there were a fair few 'slight smile' moments and even one or two 'choking on my coffee' lines. It struck me more than once that some of the humour and the mannerisms of the characters might be more smoothly captured on screen than they were on the page. That said, Jim comes across as likeable, confused, rather innocent and childlike at times, and seems to reflect a kind of caricature of every moment that we as men and women in society feel put upon, disappointed, cheered, or just plain bewildered. A nice little novel with a touch of Wodehouse about it - not sure whether it's a keeper or not yet but I'm glad I finally got to reading it!
It's not as funny as I thought it would be - perhaps some of it went over my head given its age - though there were a fair few 'slight smile' moments and even one or two 'choking on my coffee' lines. It struck me more than once that some of the humour and the mannerisms of the characters might be more smoothly captured on screen than they were on the page. That said, Jim comes across as likeable, confused, rather innocent and childlike at times, and seems to reflect a kind of caricature of every moment that we as men and women in society feel put upon, disappointed, cheered, or just plain bewildered. A nice little novel with a touch of Wodehouse about it - not sure whether it's a keeper or not yet but I'm glad I finally got to reading it!
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