100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Fast Overnight NZ-wide Delivery 🚀

Antic Hay

By Aldous Huxley
0.0 (0 reviews)
3.41 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating. ( 2,524 ratings, 233 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Aldous Huxley's Antic Hay explores the vibrant and chaotic life of post-World War I London intellectuals. The novel follows Theodore Gumbril Jr., an inventor seeking purpose beyond his mundane job as a schoolteacher. Amidst a backdrop of hedonistic parties and philosophical musings, Gumbril and his companions navigate personal relationships, artistic ambitions, and existential questions, reflecting the disillusionment of the Jazz Age.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK Please add to wishlist to be notified when back in stock

Sorry, we're currently out of stock of Antic Hay. Please add to your Wishlist and we'll send you an email as soon as it's back in stock.

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this witty and satirical novel if you're intrigued by post-World War I society, infused with a mix of intellectualism and hedonism. It might appeal to you for its exploration of disillusionment and its vibrant portrayal of the "lost generation" in a fast-changing world filled with both humour and cynicism.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

When Theodore Gumbril hits upon the notion of designing a type of pneumatic trouser to ease the discomfort of a sedentary life, he decides the time has come to leave his position as housemaster in a boys' public school and seek his fortune in the metropolis.

'Huxley brings extraordinary vigour and gusto to every page he writes' Spectator

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

When Theodore Gumbril hits upon the notion of designing a type of pneumatic trouser ('a comfort to all travellers, indispensable to first-nighters, the concert-goers' friends') to ease the discomfort of the sedentary life, he decides the time has come to leave his position as a housemaster in a boys' public school and seek his fortune in the metropolis.

But post-First-World-War London seems to be gripped by a fever of hedonism. Gumbril is soon caught up in the delirious world of aesthetes extraordinaire Mercaptan, Casimir Lypiatt and the thoroughly civilised Myra Viveash, and finds his burning ambitions are beginning to lose their urgency...

A contemporary commentator coined the word 'futilitarian' to describe the type of desultory, pleasure-seeking intellectual Huxley pinned so mercilessly to the literary map in Antic Hay. Wickedly funny and deliciously barbed, the novel epitomises the glittering neuroticism of its decade.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Antic Hay by Aldous Huxley is praised for its encyclopaedic breadth, with Huxley weaving together elements from literature, history, science, and religion. The novel captures a period where traditional forces have weakened, leaving intellectuals in a state of boredom and futility. This existential ennui is reflected in what Huxley terms the "dance of profane love," depicted with a sharp wit and a fresh, clear perspective.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780099458180

Publisher: Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 02 September 2004

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Vintage Classics

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 20.0mm

Width: 132.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 228g

Pages: 320

Collections

Aldous Huxley Classic Fiction Classic General Fiction Fiction General Fiction Literary Fiction Penguin Books

About the Author

Aldous Huxley came to literary fame in 1921 with his first novel, Crome Yellow. With the novels Antic Hay, Those Barren Leaves and Point Counter Point, Huxley quickly established a reputation for bright, brilliant satires that ruthlessly passed judgement on the shortcomings of contemporary society. In later life, exploration of the inner life through mysticism and hallucinogenic drugs dominated Huxley's writing, including his first-person account of experiencing mescaline in The Doors of Perception. Aldous Huxley died in 1963.

Also by Aldous Huxley

View all
  • Brave New World
    Brave New World is still one of the most shocking, unnerving and prophetic novels ever written. Mass-consumerism, individualism, total reliance on technology—it is a future that appears to be here already. Welcome to New London. Everybody is happy here. Introduced by Margaret Atwood Our perfect society achieves peace and stability by dispensing with monogamy, privacy, money, family and history itself....
    By Aldous Huxley
    Paperback
    $1900
    Elsewhere:
    $2300
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Brave New World
    Huxley's ingenious fantasy of the future sheds a blazing light on the present and is considered to be his most enduring masterpiece. Far in the future, the World Controllers have created the ideal society. Through clever use of genetic engineering, brainwashing, and recreational sex and drugs, all its members are happy consumers. Bernard Marx seems alone, harbouring an ill-defined longing...
    By Aldous Huxley
    Hardback
    $3500
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Grey Eminence
    The life of Father Joseph, Cardinal Richelieu's aide, was a monstrous paradox. After spending his days directing operations on the battlefield, Father Joseph would pass the night in prayer, or in composing spiritual guidance for the nuns in his care. He was an aspirant to sainthood, a practising mystic, yet his ruthless exercise of power succeeded in prolonging the Thirty...
    By Aldous Huxley
    Paperback
    $3200
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    22% off
    Brave New World
    Vintage Quarterbound Classics - Bound to be beautiful A beautiful hardback edition of Huxley's iconic dystopian classic, introduced by Yuval Noah Harari. 'A masterpiece of speculation... As vibrant, fresh, and somehow shocking as it was when I first read it' - Margaret Atwood 'If you have time for just one book, this would be my top choice' - Yuval Noah...
    By Aldous Huxley
    Hardback
    $2800
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Island
    For over a hundred years the Pacific island of Pala has been the scene of a unique experiment in civilisation. Its inhabitants live in a society where western science has been brought together with eastern philosophy and humanism to create a paradise on earth. When cynical journalist, Will Farnaby, arrives to search for information about potential oil reserves on Pala,...
    By Aldous Huxley
    Paperback
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Doors of Perception
    The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley is a profoundly wise and humane account of the author's famous experimentation with mescalin that has influenced writers and artists for decades. This groundbreaking work takes readers on an extraordinary journey into the depths of the human mind and the nature of perception. In 1953, under the supervision of an investigator, Aldous Huxley...
    By Aldous Huxley
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Brave New World
    Brave New World by Aldous Huxley transports readers to a dystopian future where society is governed by a small number of World Controllers who maintain order and happiness through the sophisticated use of genetic engineering, pervasive conditioning, and a readily available drug called soma. This brave new world is populated by a society of contented and docile citizens, whose every...
    By Aldous Huxley
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Those Barren Leaves
    In a renovated Italian palace set above the blue of the sea, the Junoesque figure of Mrs Aldwinkle moves among her guests. These include a poet who earns his living editing The Rabbit Fancier's Gazette; a popular novelist who records every detail of her affair with another guest as future literary material; an ageing philosopher who pursues a wealthy yet...
    By Aldous Huxley
    Paperback
    $4500
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Brave New World: A Graphic Novel
    The graphic novel adaptation of the classic dystopian masterpiece. From Fred Fordham, graphic novelist behind the sensational To Kill a Mockingbird graphic novel. Originally published in 1932, Brave New World is one of the most revered and profound works of twentieth-century literature. Touching on themes of control, humanity, technology, and influence, Aldous Huxley's enduring classic is a reflection and a...
    By Aldous Huxley and Fred Fordham
    Hardback
    $4400
    Elsewhere:
    $4800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Crome Yellow
    Crome Yellow
    On vacation from school, Denis goes to stay at Crome, an English country house inhabited by several of Huxley's most outlandish characters—from Mr. Barbecue-Smith, who writes 1,500 publishable words an hour by "getting in touch" with his "subconscious," to Henry Wimbush, who is obsessed with writing the definitive History of Crome. Denis's stay proves to be a disaster amid his...
    By Aldous Huxley
    Paperback
    $6600
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • Ape and Essence
    Pre-order
    Ape and Essence
    Relish a BRIEF ENCOUNTER with Aldous Huxley, the visionary author, in his dystopian satire. Huxley's dystopian classic is a nightmare vision of the fate of humanity in a post-nuclear world. After a devastating global catastrophe, a group of scientists arrives in a ruined future shaped by fear, ritual, and violence. Humanity has survived—but at a terrible cost, and not in...
    By Aldous Huxley
    Paperback
    $2400
    Pre-order
    Out 20 Oct 2026
  • The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell
    "A genuine spiritual quest... Extraordinary." -- New York Times Among the most profound and influential explorations of mind-expanding psychedelic drugs ever written, this landmark work of consciousness exploration includes two complete classic books—The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell—in which Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, reveals the mind's remote frontiers and the unmapped areas of human consciousness....
    By Aldous Huxley
    Paperback
    $4900
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks

More from General Fiction

View all
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people — but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    By Alison Espach
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    Dungeon Crawler Carl
    The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman-now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition! You know what's worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what's worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction...
    By Matt Dinniman
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Pre-order
    Big Little Truths
    Parenting teens is not for the faint of heart but Madeline, Jane and Celeste have been through worse. It's been a decade since the school trivia night that changed their lives forever and now they're living blissfully ordinary suburban lives. But when an anonymous grisly package arrives at the local high school, and a man in a green Volvo is...
    By Liane Moriarty
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    Pre-order
    Out 25 Aug 2026
  • On Sale
    17% off
    Dylan's Pick Dylan's Pick
    Theo of Golden
    THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...
    By Allen Levi
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)
    Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...
    By Sarah J. Maas
    Set
    $12400
    Elsewhere:
    $15500
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Ballad of Falling Dragons [Special Deluxe edition]
    The No.1 Sunday Times bestselling sensation When the Moon Hatched continues with the second book in The Moonfall Series, The Ballad of Falling Dragons… Raeve’s thirst for vengeance continues to burn, as does her love for Kaan Vaegor – a staunch beacon from a past she’s yet to face. With Rekk’s blood still fresh on her hands, she learns the...
    By Sarah A. Parker
    Hardback
    $5999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Goal
    Welcome to Briar U!Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy!Read The Goal now for the perfect forced proximity romance! She's good at achieving her goals . . . College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick...
    By Elle Kennedy
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    On Sale
    17% off
    Project Hail Mary
    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...
    By Andy Weir
    Paperback
    $2000
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    (5)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    Carl's Doomsday Scenario
    Join Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat Princess Donut as they fight fantastical creatures and deadly mobs in the second book in the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl series -now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They've already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever...
    By Matt Dinniman
    Hardback
    $4699
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    East of Eden
    Set against the backdrop of the fertile Salinas Valley in California, East of Eden is a profound and compelling novel by John Steinbeck, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. This masterful narrative charts the intertwining destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—across multiple generations. Steinbeck's intricate portrayal of human nature and enduring exploration of moral themes...
    By John Steinbeck
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    On Mystic Lake
    One of the greatest storytellers of our time - Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing Annie Colwater's only child has just left home for school in England. On that same day, her husband of twenty years confesses that he's in love with a younger woman. Left alone in the beautiful California house which was once a home, Annie...
    By Kristin Hannah
    Paperback
    $3100
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings Boxed Set
    Embark on a journey through Middle-earth with J.R.R. Tolkien's timeless masterpieces, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. These enthralling tales recount the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, a modest hobbit whose life is turned upside down when he unwittingly becomes entwined in a perilous quest involving dragons, wizards, and the fate of the world. Alongside iconic characters such as...
    By J. R. R. Tolkien
    Box Set
    $7199
    Elsewhere:
    $8999
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

General Fiction lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!

The Latest at Book Hero

View all