Lucky Jim (Penguin Modern Classics) | Kingsley Amis

Lucky Jim (Penguin Modern Classics) | Kingsley Amis | Read it and weep (with laughter)

books:

Lucky Jim (Penguin...

	Lucky Jim (Penguin Modern Classics) Kingsley Amis Penguin Classics, 2000 - 272 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

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.

Don't read this on a plane

You will be hooting with laughter, disturbing your seatmates, and causing consternation among the flight attendants. This book is amazingly funny. But you will need some working knowledge of British academia to 'get it'. Which means, if you know the difference between a 'grammar school' and a 'comprehensive', you can feel sort of snobby while you chortle hysterically. Plus, if you like the work of Martin Amis (Kingsley's son, for those of you who don't know your 'grammars' from 'comps'), you can now have one of those real 'aha' moments: as in 'I see! THIS is where he gets it!'.

for more information click here

Read it and weep (with laughter)

My oh my, this book is honest to goodness, hands down, one of the funniest books ever. Well - in my opinion. It's one of the few books that lives up to that awful cliche, 'laugh-out-loud funny'.

The Lucky Jim in question, Jim Dixon, is so human, and yet also so eccentric, irrational, and unintentionally hilarious - even the most absurd situation (and there are several) is understandable. The description of a hangover is so spot-on it's spooky, though I guess given Amis' reputation as a drinker, we shouldn't be surprised! The first review here gives a rather good plot summary, so I won't go into this. Highlights for me were the above-mentioned hangover, the sheets/blanket debacle, the various telephone impersonations, Dixon's habit of pulling extraordinarily odd faces for no particular reason, and of course the epic, drunken rant that is his lecture on 'Merrie Old England'.

I do think that the kind of humour Amis employs here is, as with all comedy, a matter of taste - it's a dry, absurdist kind of humour, quite English, and would appeal to those who enjoy Monty Python and/or Bridget Jones. And that, to me, is the best kind there is. Hilarious, wonderful fun.

for more information click here

Young academics' must-read

This book was recommended to me wisely by several young (in their career) academics. It was so good that I wish I had saved it an extra year until I was going through the inevitable torment of the job hunt, and the various disgusting tangles academic life involves. I highly recommend this novel for some perspective on ivory tower ambitions and all the failed attempts.

Older but Never Dated

I think you simply have to be an academic to fully enjoy the comedy of Lucky Jim. Not that the jokes lost any of their flair over last half a century, Jim's misfortunes have a slapstick quality to them which can be funny even in Elizabethan comedies. Their full quality, however, is visible only to people who have had some experience with the world of academy. Yet there is a lot for every reader even living in safety far away from the world lead by the watchword "publish or perish".
I always tell my students who explain to me how good it is to be a university professor to read this book. So why shouldn't you try?

for more information click here

Just A Funny Book

"Lucky Jim" is one of those books that has gotten less politically correct in the fifty or so years since it was written. Somehow it has avoided becoming too dated. However, reading Kingsley Amis's debut novel, there is the feeling that Amis himself would be delighted to hear that his book is considered sexist.

James "Jim" Dixon, the story's central character, is a quirky sort of anti-hero: well-meaning but selfish, he is conniving, spineless, and works just enough to keep his job. Despite it all, Dixon is quite is likeable. A junior lecturer at one of the new universities being built all over Britain in the 1950 and 60's, Dixon has an over-bearing boss, one Professor Welch, and a pathetic but psychotically manipulative girlfriend, Margot. To make matters worse, Margot lives with the Welches as part of her emotional blackmail of Dixon.

When Dixon is invited to a medieval "artsy" weekend at the Welch's country home, he is put in contact with Professor Welch's pretentiously artistic family. This includes his obnoxious son, Bertrand, an artist more interested in acting a part than actually painting. Dixon also meets Bertrand's non-committal girlfriend, who is not nearly so objectionable.

While it's a little formulaic, zaniness ensues. The thing with "Lucky Jim" is that it doesn't matter if the story is formulaic. The book is a good read. It's not just the laugh-out-loud parts, but that the whole story is funny. It's so well told that you can't wait to see how all this foolishness gets tied up.

Silly British campus foolishness it is though. This isn't for fans of in-your-face, shock comedy. This is England of the 1950's; everyone is very polite, but this desire not to be rude that is part of the fun. No one is able to come right out and speak plainly, so the comic action keeps spinning further and further from its center through country weekends, school dances, and what must be every pub in a college town.

"Lucky Jim" is a good debut from one of the more influential comic writers of the last century. Read it.

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2

products you might be interested in