Lucky Jim (Penguin Modern Classics)
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Product Description
Product Description
Jim Dixon has accidentally fallen into a job at one of Britain's new red brick universities. A moderately successful future in the History Department beckons. As long as Jim can survive a madrigal-singing weekend at Professor Welch's, deliver a lecture on 'Merrie England' and resist Christine, the hopelessly desirable girlfriend of Welch's awful son Bertrand.
About the Author
Kingsley Amis' (1922-1995) works take a humorous yet highly critical look at British society, especially of the period following the end of World War II. He was born in London. Amis explored his disillusionment with British society in novels such asTHAT UNCERTAIN FEELING (1955). His other works include THE GREEN MAN (1970); STANLEY AND THE WOMEN (1984); and THE OLD DEVILS (1986) which won the Booker Prize. Amis also wrote poetry, criticism, and short stories.
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First Sentence
'They made a silly mistake, though,' the Professor of History said, and his smile, as Dixon watched, gradually sank beneath the surface of his features at the memory. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
'They made a silly mistake, though,' the Professor of History said, and his smile, as Dixon watched, gradually sank beneath the surface of his features at the memory. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic of modern humour.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Lucky Jim (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
Lucky Jim is one of Amis's best works, filled with intense humour, false bravado and absurd characters. The 'hero' Jim Dixon, is intially engulfed by the diverse scope of the eccentric social group with which he finds himself into at University, his students and collegues alike causing him no end of problems. Speaking as a student I find the novel to be in parts painfully close to reality, particularly in Jim's dealings with his over-keen student Michie, and the general irreverent nature of university life, despite the fact that it is set over forty years ago, it is still a humourous and well-recorded version of campus life. Overall the main strengths of the novel are its varied cast of characters whose imbecility, social ineptitude or plain naivety constantly amuse the reader throughout, whilst the climax is a fitting end to Jim's trials both socially, intellectually and morally. Deeply funny.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Accomplished and Wise, but Not All That Hilarious,
By
This review is from: Lucky Jim (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
I think I read this as a teenager, over forty years ago. At the time I don't think I was all that impressed.
Much later I read one or two other Amis novels and quite enjoyed them and recently I have read about ten, finding them mostly absolutely hilarious, especially `Take a Girl Like You', `One Fat Englishman' and `Girl, 20'. Lucky Jim is quite different from these middle period novels in that the main character suffers from severe anxiety nearly all the way through about his career and his love life. As David Nicholls says in the introduction to my copy, most of the passion in it is Dixon talking to himself about his hatred of certain other characters. Later Amis novels also feature such hatred, but in these it is more likely to be expressed rather than an inner monologue, and in later books the protagonists are much more confident individuals, though their behaviour is not necessarily any more socially acceptable. Nevertheless Lucky Jim is reminiscent to me of several other novels written in the fifties and sixties about young people and their uncertainties. I am thinking of `Billy Liar', `The L-Shaped Room' etc. One reviewer refers to Dixon's extraordinary attitude to women. I don't find it extraordinary, he is actually extraordinarily respectful of them, without denying lustful feelings, which seems quite healthy to me.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Laughed so much I thought I might die.,
By El Fidela (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Lucky Jim (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
I am in complete agreement with the 14 year old boy who found this absolute classic in with his dad's old books. I bought this for £2 out of the university bookshop bargain bin when I was in first year at university ( I should add I am 27 so no old fogey) and vaguely remembered seeing Terry-Thomas as Bertrand ("AH SAAAAM") in some old black and white sick-day film on a tuesday afternoon. I started reading it on the train home and didn't stop till I was done. I was actually shocked to see that people hated this and found it dated or "middle-class" (I assume that's meant to be pejorative?). This has to be one of the funniest novels of all time - particularly all the fighting talk "Would you like a slap?" "Not much" and Jim's ability to turn any situation to his complete disadvantage.
I now have a theory that the reason this novels appeals so much to some and not to others is that the world is divided into Bertrands and Jims - the former definitely would hate this book. They'd be into magic realism or something. If you like this you will almost definitely like "Take a Girl like You" which is almost the same book with the characters shifted round a bit but slightly less funny - apart from Julian Ormerod who is pant-wettingly hilarious. Every time I read either of these I crease up and for a long time after I read Lucky Jim even thinking about it was enough to set me off. Buy two copies cos you'll loan one to your friend and never see it again.
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