Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis - A New York Review Books Classic

30 Weight: Great post war dark and witty comedy set an England in a college setting.
Funny, knowing, Qwaint witty. Check it out

United States on Oct 31, 2023

Cliente Amazon: todo perfecto

Spain on Oct 28, 2021

W. Stokeley: Imagine if time had stood still in postwar Britain, circa 1945. In an age like our own but not quite recognisable, let Jim Dixon carry you, comically, through his brief and apathetic academic career, punctuated with laugh-out-loud scenes.

Australia on Jan 16, 2021

Jym O: John Cleese says that this one of best books he's ever read. I am happy to join his club. This is a delicious book especially for word-o-philes.

Canada on Dec 13, 2020

Rocky Macy: Novelist and poet Kingsley Amis was born to a working class family in London in 1922, but by the time of his death seventy-three years later he was a highly esteemed British man of letters who had been knighted by the Queen. Amis described himself as being a graduate of World War II and Oxford University. Being from a working class background - and lacking the advantages of having a family of means - he was able to attend the prestigious Oxford primarily through hs own academic achievements and abilities, and his modest family background undoubtedly placed limitations on his social movements through the university.

One of Amis's few close friends at Oxford was a fellow student named Philip Larkin, Larkin also eventually became a successful novelist and poet.

Kingsley Amis began his first novel, "Lucky Jim," in 1951 when he was only twenty-eight-years-old. He dedicated the book to Philip Larkin, and Larkin played an active role in editing the book. Over the years some readers and critics have felt that "Lucky Jim" was autobiographical in nature and that Amis was essentially describing his own life in the exploits of the book's central character, Jim Dixon. Both the...

United States on Jun 23, 2020

Sam: Too elite for my little brain but sincerely funny for classic lovers

India on Sep 30, 2018

Philipp G: Hilarious and recognisable! A very funny story of a university lecturer in the 20th century. It is a novel, so do not expect any life advice in here. It is just damn good!

Germany on Sep 07, 2017

Cabin Dweller: This was a random shot that turned into disappointment once I saw the cover, a plastic looking superimposition of whomever the title character was supposed to be. Although it is not “The comic novel of our time,” its Englishness is very endearing. Author Kingsley Amis uses what is annoying about British persona instead of displays it. His primary concern is showing some kind of pretense in higher education and English aristocracy, most likely because they are in reality very closely intertwined, and using them as the foundation for a juvenile fascination with a pretty girl.
The damaged goods girl is Margaret. The down-to-earth beauty is Catherine. Jim is “lucky” because Margaret is eventually proven to be a grandstander who faked an empty bottle of sleeping pills. Otherwise, readers would not stand for Jim Dixon’s superficial switch to the beautiful Catherine, who is also mismatched with the real comic figure of Bertrand. Not only does he have the English name, he has the beret, the nepotism, and the exaggerated art career. Although he is clearly a cad, a word Amis might not ever use in the book, Jim is not clearly a protagonist. The story is very patient in turning...

United States on Jan 15, 2015