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Lucky Jim

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

A hilarious satire about college life and high-class manners, this is a classic of postwar English literature.

Regarded by many as the finest, and funniest, comic novel of the twentieth century, Lucky Jim remains as trenchant, withering, and eloquently misanthropic as when it first scandalized readers in 1954.

This is the story of Jim Dixon, a hapless lecturer in medieval history at a provincial university who knows better than most that "there was no end to the ways in which nice things are nicer than nasty ones." Kingsley Amis's scabrous debut leads the reader through a gallery of emphatically English bores, cranks, frauds, and neurotics with whom Dixon must contend in one way or another in order to hold on to his cushy academic perch and win the girl of his fancy.

More than just a merciless satire of cloistered college life and stuffy postwar manners, Lucky Jim is an attack on the forces of boredom and a work of art that at once distills and extends an entire tradition of English comic writing, from Fielding and Dickens through Wodehouse and Waugh.

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    • AudioFile Magazine
      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
    • AudioFile Magazine
      Lucky Jim is Jim Dixon, who has a precarious position teaching history at an English, redbrick university and whose schemes to advance his interests go horribly awry. Amis is a connoisseur of bores and boredom, of affectation and interpersonal tyranny. Above all, though, he's the undisputed master of portraying the untoward consequences of drink. One such scene, perhaps the funniest ever conceived, occurs in this book. Richard Green, whose reading is excellent, particularly in his restrained rendering of regional accents, can be just detected suppressing laughter at this and at one other point, but he rallies and these incidents are more accolades than lapses. K.A.P. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      The celebrated satirical novel LUCKY JIM, published in 1954, is brought to audio with the vocal talents of James Lailey. Brisk and efficient, Lailey lends a crisp delivery to the story of Jim Dixon, a lecturer at a British university, and his various misadventures in academia. Lailey's voice is appealing, but his delivery is often so fast that it's difficult to appreciate the nuances of Amis's descriptions, much less appreciate the humor in the details. The exposition reveals itself with such speed that Lailey's skills with inflection and tone fail to get their due. The dialogue is readily distinguishable and distinctive, helping to bring the story to life. This is a fine production; it just moves far too quickly. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

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  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

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