One fun source of
books for my staggering TBR pile is Workman Publishing’s “Page a Day Calendar
for readers. Every morning I am greeted
with a novel, biography, history, or poetry for my reading pleasure. I knew about Kingsley Amis through the Booker
Prize, which he won in 1996. Lucky Jim is considered by many critics
to be his best comic novel.
According to the
biography in my copy, Kingsley Amis was a novelist, poet, and critic widely
regarded as one of the greatest satiric writers of the 20th
century. He was born in suburban South
London. He attended St. John’s College,
Oxford on a scholarship where he began a lifelong friendship with poet Philip
Larkin. He served in the British Armey
during World War II, and upon his “demobbing” – as the English put it – he finished
his degree and joined the faculty of the University College of Swansea in Wales. Lucky
Jim, his first novel, was published in 1954. He also taught for a year at Princeton
University. Amis published 24 novels,
including his Booker Prize winner, The
Old Devils. He was knighted by Queen
Elizabeth in 1990. He died in 1995.
Lucky Jim is the story of Jim Dixon, a beleaguered lecturer of Medieval
History. Hanging onto his perch at an
unnamed provincial university and capturing the girl of his dreams are his
principle occupations. Despite the age
of this novel, it struck me as remarkably timely even today. I place it on a shelf with other of my
favorites set in academia, such as Beet,
The English Major, Stoner, and Straight
Man.
A cautionary word,
the British humor is typically dry and requires some close attention to get the
jokes. Here is a sample of Amis
describing a hangover: “He lay sprawled, too wicked to move, spewed up like a
broken spider-crab on the tarry shingle of morning. The light did him harm, but not as much as
looking at things did; he resolved, having done it once, never to move his
eyeballs again. A dusty thudding in his
head made the scene before him beat like a pulse. 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” (60).
In an introduction
by the critic and writer, Keith Gessen, Jim Dixon is modeled on Philip
Larkin. When Amis sent the manuscript to
his friend for comment, Larkin responded that he ought to make Dixon more like
Amis. A funny exchange ensued with a
catalogue of faces Amis could use.
Amis gave up
teaching, because it interfered with his writing. Eventually, Amis surpassed his friend Larkin
in notoriety, and the two drifted apart, despite a dedication to Larkin. Kingsley Amis’ debut novel, Lucky Jim, is a hilarious romp through
academia in the aftermath of World War II, and Amis deserves the acclaim he
garnered. 5 Stars
--Chiron, 12/3/15
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