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Lucky Jim

By Kingsley Amis
Series: Penguin Essentials
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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
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis is a humorous novel set in post-war Britain. It follows the misadventures of Jim Dixon, a disillusioned young history lecturer navigating the absurdities of academia. As he attempts to secure his position and navigate his chaotic personal life, Jim's efforts often lead to comic mishaps and unexpected triumphs.
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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 book if you have a keen interest in satirical tales set in academia, as it masterfully explores the comic misadventures of a young lecturer navigating the absurdities of university life. Its witty prose and lively characters will appeal to those who appreciate humour intertwined with critiques of post-war England.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Jix Dixon has a terrible job at a second-rate university. His life is full of things he could happily do without. If he can just deliver a lecture on Merrie England, a moderately successful career surely awaits him. But without luck, life is never simple...

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

New edition of the Penguin Essential of the best satire ever written.

'His mouth had been used as a latrine by some small creature of the night, and then as a mausoleum. During the night, too, he'd somehow been on a cross-country run and then been expertly beaten up by secret police. He felt bad.'

Jim Dixon has a terrible job at a second-rate university. His life is full of things he could happily do without: the tedious and ridiculous Professor Welch, a neurotic and unstable girlfriend, Margaret, burnt sheets, medieval recorder music, and over-enthusiastic students. If he can just deliver a lecture on 'Merrie England', a moderately successful career surely awaits him. But without luck, life is never simple...

Series: Penguin Essentials

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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?

Lucky Jim is celebrated for its brilliant and uproarious humour, delivering a flawless comic experience that leaves readers laughing out loud. It's revered as a seminal piece in the campus novel genre, earning high praise for its wit and enduring comedic impact.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241956847

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 05 April 2012

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 17.0mm

Width: 111.0mm

Height: 177.0mm

Weight: 153g

Pages: 272

Collections

Best Sellers at Book Hero Fiction General Fiction In Stock Books In-Stock Fiction Books Kingsley Amis Literary Fiction New Release Fiction Penguin Books Series: Penguin Essentials

About the Author

Kingsley Amis was born in London in 1922, educated at City of London School and St John's College, Oxford, and worked for a time as a university lecturer. Following the publication of Lucky Jim in 1954 he wrote over twenty novels, including The Alteration (1976), The Old Devils (1986), winner of the Booker Prize, and The Biographer's Moustache (1995), which was to be his last book. He published a variety of other work, writing about politics, education, language, films, restaurants and drink. Kingsley Amis received a knighthood in 1990, and died in October 1995.

Also by Kingsley Amis

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  • Lucky Jim
    Lucky Jim tells the story of Jim Dixon, who has accidentally found himself in 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...
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  • Collected Poems
    The complete collection of Kingsley Amis's poems, as witty, scabrous and bracing as his celebrated novels. Although best known for his comic novels, Kingsley Amis wrote poetry throughout his career. Collected Poems spans subjects from nature and cricket to love, ageing and literature, brimming with his characteristic wit and irreverence, yet full of compassion. 'The Last War' brings home the...
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  • The Alteration
    Of all the choristers at the Cathedral Basilica of St George, he is the angelβ€”the one whose voice could only have been made in heaven. In every other respect, Hubert is utterly ordinary: a nice, rather timid ten-year-old boy. The year is 1976, but by bold Amisian sleight-of-hand, the England of The Alteration has become a disconcerting, quasi-medieval land in...
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  • You Can't Do Both
    Robin Davies is both a shrewd observer and an energetic actor in a drama that takes him from school to Oxford. With him, we live through all the pangs of a pre-war adolescence in South London, and on through his rites of passage to adulthood, involving rebellion, self-discovery, sex, seduction, and commitment. You Can't Do Both is classic Amisβ€”brilliantly funny,...
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  • Memoirs
    Kingsley Amis's memoirs are filled with anecdotes, experiences and portraits of famous friends, family and acquaintances. From his childhood days to Oxford and army life, his travels abroad and his years as a novelist, Memoirs offers insights into a unique literary life.
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  • Jake's Thing
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