Nice Work (King Penguin) [Paperback]

David Lodge (Author)

Book Description

Series: King Penguin | Publication Date: July 27, 1990

Centered in Rummidge, a sprawling industrial town in the English midlands, Nice Work confirms Lodge's rare capacity to be thought-provoking, moving, and very funny. "A singularly brilliant and invigorating performance."--Chicago Tribune.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"His tongue caustic, and his take on British society provocative and funny, Lodge skewers virtually every aspect of Thatcherite Britain in this top-notch satirical novel," observed PW . 35,000 first printing.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Robyn Penrose is a lecturer in 19th-century literature at a university located in the fictitious English Midlands city of Rummidge. Vic Wilcox is managing director of Pringle's, an industrial casting company located in a grimy suburb. They are thrown together as part of a "shadow scheme" concocted by their superiors in response to a governmentally ordained "Industry Year." Entering into the arrangement with considerable skepticism and lack of appreciation for the other's mode of life, they get off to a rocky start, but then slowly develop a mutual respect and even liking for each other (and in Vic's case something more). Nice Work is, indeed, a "nice" novel. Lodge spoofs in a nonjudgmental way both the pretensions of academia and the materialism of the upper-middle business class. While lacking in stylistic elegance, this is a well-told tale full of gentle humor that should, despite its setting, have broad appeal to Americans.
- David W. Henderson, Eckerd Coll. Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (July 27, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140133968
• ISBN-13: 978-0140133967
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #495,694 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great book, October 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Nice Work (King Penguin) (Paperback)

OK, we all know David Lodge is a very witty man, and his hilarious creations in "Changing Places" and "Small World" are some of his most famous. Well, here they are, back again, in another Rummidge Campus novel--this time the main characters are Dr. Robyn Penrose and local plant manager Vic Wilcox (with special cameos by Philip Swallow, Hilary Swallow, Morris Zapp and even a mention of Desiree, of course). They meet up when Robyn is chosen to 'shadow' Vic on an Industry Matters type scheme. Their opposing view points grate off each other for the first hundred or so pages--but halfway through the novel we get hints of something very special beginning to flower.

It's not as funny or as well-plotted as "Changing Places" or "Therapy", his two greats, but then again that's hardly much of a condemnation. The man's only mortal, after all---and this novel, while not his best, is still a brilliant read and an essential conclusion to the Rummidge Campus trilogy. Read it!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Up the Academy!, August 22, 2000

By 

B. PERKINS (Denton, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nice Work (King Penguin) (Paperback)

After I finished grad school, a fellow student bought me this book as a going away gift. She had written on the frontispiece, "This book helps me keep perspective on how the rest of the world sees us academics." It was the first David Lodge book I read, but certainly not the last. Robyn Penrose, Ph.D. in English, has been assigned to shadow Vic Wilcox, factory manager in industrial Rummidge (a fictional version of the English city of Birmingham) for a semester. Of course Mr. Wilcox is going to learn something about feminist criticism; what you might not realize is how much Dr. Penrose will learn about English industry. David Lodge's familiar characters from his other novels, _Changing_Places_ and _Small_World_, are back here in supporting roles. But the real stars here are Robyn and Vic, two people who are very adversarial at first, only to become quite understanding of the other's point of view. Lodge's resolution of his plot seems a bit forced, but the writing is extremely intelligent: Lodge effortlessly provides humorous examples of the seemingly difficult literary theories that Robyn espouses. This book did more for my appreciation of critical theory than anything other text--and without the pain of reading Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, or Julia Kristeva. Anyone who's worked in academia will not only recognize the truth that is contained in this novel; (s)he will also recognize several of the people. Others might wish to start with _Small_World_, but _Nice_Work_ will let you know what you think of David Lodge in short order.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lodge get's it right with this one., May 22, 2006

By 

David J. Gannon (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nice Work (King Penguin) (Paperback)

Nice Work is the third in Lodge's trilogy send-up of academia and stands as a significant departure from the previous two novels. The cast of characters from the first two entries is all but gone and the book takes a satirical look at academia from the corporate point of view.

The story revolves around on of those truly bureaucratic inventions that in the end never seem to serve any real purpose. In this case, it Industry Year, a celebration of industry in Britain at the height of the Thatcher ear when English business is in full retreat from the opening of markets and fierce foreign competition.

As part of this nonsense, Robyn Primrose, fierce socialist intellectual and lecturer on 19th century English literature is assigned to "shadow" Vic Wilcox, the managing director of a local foundry and manufacturing concern, to "foster greater understanding between the collegiate and business communities".

Wilcox is doing his best to remake his company into a competitive concern that can make a go of it for the long term. Primrose is a sheltered child of privilege whose left wing theories aren't tinged with any experience of the real world.

Naturally, this situation provides full fodder for Lodge's wonderfully wacky satirical vision, and he does his utmost to make the best of the situation, to wonderful effect.

This book isn't nearly as outright funny as the previous entries ion this trilogy, falling more along the lines of amusing rather than comical. Yet, I liked it best of the three. The books isn't as cluttered by the huge--and often confusing--cast of characters that populated the first two books. The pace is more subdued than the frenetic pace of the earlier books, and the characters much more fully drawn. If this effort produced far fewer "laugh out loud" moments, it was nevertheless the most satisfying of the three books.

Many complain these books are outdated--I don't find them so. They wonderfully chronicle a past time. That's like saying Dickens or Twain shouldn't be read because they are outdated. It doesn't make sense.


Lodge has a witty, effervescent writing style and a wonderfully sardonic world view that make for very enjoyable reading. This trilogy is well worth your time.