Lucky Jim [Paperback]

Kingsley Amis (Author), David Lodge (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 22, 1992

In his send-up of the academic world, the author poked fun at the British way of life, and gave post-war fiction a new and enduring figure to laugh at.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Although Kingsley Amis's acid satire of postwar British academic life has lost some of its bite in the four decades since it was published, it's still a rewarding read. And there's no denying how big an impact it had back then--Lucky Jim could be considered the first shot in the Oxbridge salvo that brought us Beyond the Fringe, That Was the Week That Was, and so much more.

In Lucky Jim, Amis introduces us to Jim Dixon, a junior lecturer at a British college who spends his days fending off the legions of malevolent twits that populate the school. His job is in constant danger, often for good reason. Lucky Jim hits the heights whenever Dixon tries to keep a preposterous situation from spinning out of control, which is every three pages or so. The final example of this--a lecture spewed by a hideously pickled Dixon--is a chapter's worth of comic nirvana. The book is not politically correct (Amis wasn't either), but take it for what it is, and you won't be disappointed.

From AudioFile

It's nice to know that England's higher education system suffers from the same problems America's does. Poor Jim Dixon has to suffer a scatterbrained department head, cutthroat colleagues and fickle students. It's a good thing he's lucky--he needs it. Paul Shelley's wonderful narration ably amplifies the story and brings vivid characters to life. His rich British accent is a joy, in addition to being very soothing. Shelley knows just how to read the text so we hear all the wit, anger and subtlety in Amis's words. He is especially good at capturing conversations in the book, knowing when to pause, stutter, feign outrage, etc. This makes listening to Lucky Jim a delicious experience. R.I.G. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 251 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (June 22, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140186301
• ISBN-13: 978-0140186307
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,744 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great British Humor, September 14, 2002

By 

Jeffrey Leach (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lucky Jim (Paperback)

In the introduction to the Penguin edition of Kingsley Amis's 1954 novel "Lucky Jim," David Lodge puts forth several possible influences Amis relied upon when writing the novel. Probably the most significant theory advanced by Lodge is that Amis wrote his book with one eye on Graham Greene's novel, "The Heart of the Matter." Lodge convincingly argues that "Lucky Jim" is actually a comic inversion of Greene's story. Of course, if one has not read Greene's novel, this point may not register on the radar. But what is important is that Lodge proves to us that "Lucky Jim" is much more than a collection of funny scenes. Most will read this book because they have heard that it is uproariously funny, which it certainly is, as the book does contain enough humor to cheer up the most heartless people among us. However, don't get hung up on the humor and forget to look deeper.

"Lucky Jim" is set in the seemingly unfunny world of academia, specifically British academia. The hero of the story, James "Jim" Dixon, is a young man on the make, fresh out of school and dutifully working at his first real job; a position in the history department at an obscure provincial university. Jim really hates his job. This hatred stems from the cast of assorted characters Jim must put up with on a daily basis. Jim's biggest problem is Professor Welch, the head of the history department. Welch is a forgetful fool who holds Jim's future job in the palm of his hand. Then there is Margaret, a neurotic fellow lecturer who latches on to Jim and won't let him go. Welch's son Bertrand, an arrogant "artist" who torments Jim while flaunting his girlfriend Christine (who Jim quickly becomes enraptured with, creating a tension that leads to several hilarious confrontations between the Welch family and Jim) also makes an appearance. Rounding out the cast of quirky characters is an annoying student who knows more about medieval history than Jim.

Of course, Jim causes problems for himself with frightening regularity. He sets his bed on fire during a weekend retreat at the Welch's, delivers a lecture on "Merrie England" after imbibing way too much alcohol, and makes phony phone calls to the Welch house in an attempt to discredit Bertrand. The humor is classic British wit: slow and masterfully written in the way only the British can achieve. Jim's description of a hangover will bring a knowing chuckle from anyone who has ever downed too many at the bar. These scenes are extremely funny and help to drive the book to its happy conclusion.

Amis spends an enormous amount of time poking fun at the British upper class. Welch and his family are endlessly skewered as Jim constantly shows them up. That Jim ultimately conquers his enemies must be Amis's way of showing the ultimate triumph of the "commoner" over the entrenched British aristocracy. This tension reached an acme after World War II, when the British educational system expanded its programs to include the British lower classes (it is no mistake that Jim mentions his stint as a lowly soldier in the R.A.F. during the war, thus qualifying him as a sort of everyman hero).

What didn't work as well in "Lucky Jim" is the interaction between Jim and Christine. These encounters tend to be wordy and too steeped in emotional minutiae. Even some of the dialogue between Jim and Margaret ends up becoming rather tedious compared to the rest of the book. This is probably due to the comedic scenes in the book; they are so funny that everything else pales by comparison. But the dialogues do serve an important purpose in the story: they reveal the concerns of people trying to make their way in a world that places them at the bottom of the ladder.

"Lucky Jim" would make an excellent gift for anyone who needs a good cheering up. It also might help someone who is nervous about speaking in public for the first time (the embarrassment Jim suffers because of his drunken speech will show anyone that their attempt at oration cannot possibly approach the disastrous level Jim reaches). Any people submerged in the agonies of their pre-tenure years should also read this book. "Lucky Jim" is funny, eloquent, insightful, and should be read in conjunction with Jerome K. Jerome's "Three Men in a Boat" for the ultimate experience in British humor.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ultimate Die Laughing, Feel-Good Book., May 24, 1999

By 

E. Fagan (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lucky Jim (Paperback)

Obviously it's unanimous here...this is one of the most hilarious, moving, irreverent and wise books ever. Jim Dixon is a joy. I named my son after him in hopes that he would embody some of his kindly, mischievous, unpretentious & good-humored qualities.

Amis' writing is so fine, so perfectly crafted. It's an effortless read, but has so many layers of wisdom to it. I became a big fan after reading "Lucky Jim" and have since read and enjoyed many of his other books, but this remains far and away the all-time favorite. Sadly, his first book is also the last one to have an upbeat, humane, let-the-good-guy-win mindset.

Funniest description of a hangover I've ever read at the beginning of Chapter 6...

An unending pleasure of a book.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious satire of academic life in England, August 6, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Lucky Jim (Hardcover)

When it was first published in 1954, it turned the author, Kingsley Amis (the father of Martin, also a fine author), into a celebrated writer and a spokesman for his generation, a position that he didn't seem to want or care about. The novel was "Lucky Jim," and it tells the story of a young academic, Jim Dixon, at work in one of England's provincial universities. The book is hilarious, from the first page (where Jim describes the physical sensation of hangover) to the last, when he leaves the shady groves of academia for a job with better pay in London. Along the way, Jim learns a lot about academic life--he hates recorder concerts, musical evenings, and academic pretentions--and he learns a lot of girls; his main preoccupation. I keep thinking this book is ripe for a movie version, with someone like Daniel Day-Lewis as the title character; it was made into a film in the 1950s, but I've never seen it and the reviews are not great. The book remains a delight to read, however, and, like all good satires, has some serious points to make, about things that Amis detected, like pretentiousness. "Lucky Jim" is also noteworthy because it launched Amis's career, and he wrote novels, short stories, poems, and journalism for the rest of his life, which ended just last year. He's a very different writer from his son Martin (rumor has it he didn't like Martin's work all that much), but they both share a real gift for comic writing. It is a work that achieves that rare combination of being interesting in a literary sense, but also humorous and a real pleasure to read. I recommend it heartily.