Lucky Jim

Brilliantly crisp and full of acidic commentary on the worst parts of academia. I picked this up because the author came recommended to me and I love academic fiction.

While being a little unfamiliar with the British higher education system (especially as it was 50 years ago), it nonetheless holds up and you need not have such historical or experiential knowledge to enjoy this book.

Bitter, caustic, hilarious - it makes you angry almost as much as it makes you laugh. I highly recommend it!

I picked this up after seeing reviews comparing it to A Confederacy of Dunces and other reviews describing it as one of the “funniest novels of the 20th-century.” This was a really excellent and entertaining read. I liked it as much as A Confederacy of Dunces but it was nowhere near as hilarious. [b:A Confederacy of Dunces 310612 A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1562554946l/310612.SY75.jpg 968084] revolved around characters who were odious and absurd and the plot was pretty outlandish. As good as it was, it wasn't really believable. Lucky Jim feels populated with people you might know in real life.The title character, Jim, is someone I could understand even if he's not especially nice or honorable. He's misanthropic and insecure to the point it had me cringing. It works well as these traits play into each other. He doesn't like people because somehow they hurt your feelings. He doesn't see in yourself how he might hurt other people's feelings. He drinks too much, schemes and lies to save face, and tries to avoid any real work. Yet somehow he is the most human compared to the other characters, most of whom are bullying, manipulating, or using him in some way. On top of the heap is Professor Welch, the clueless department head. He has the future of Jim's employment as lecturer at the university in his power. Jim is jumping through hoops trying to stay on his good side. Then there's Welch's son, Bertrand, artistic poseur, who takes an instant dislike to Jim. The feeling is mutual and Jim shows some nerve in openly challenging and defying Bertrand. Living with the Welch family is Margaret, who is recovering from a suicide attempt. Using guilt as a weapon, (he was supposed to come to see her the night she swallowed the pills) she manipulates Jim into taking care of her companionship and emotional needs, even though they don't actually like each other. Jim manages to squeak out a little romance out of his circumstances with Christine, though it's not much of a love story to root for since he begins it in order to piss off her boyfriend Bertrand. He does show more honesty and candor in dealing with Christine, however. He also finds a new ally in the form of her uncle. “Lucky Jim” is an apt title since throughout the book, Jim's questionable behavior seems sure to find him unemployed, alone, possibly physically assaulted by the various people he crosses. He's far from a heroic character, but I found it oddly satisfying that he got the better of the smug and myopic Welch family.

Lucky Jim.

Someone else likened this book to growing up with The Beatles; they were this big thing that was a total change of pace for their contemporaries, but to a generation that grew up with them they aren't anything exciting or special. That's such an apt description I couldn't put it better myself, this is like the Beatles if you were born well after Beatlemania; it's great stuff but your parents (and maybe even grandparents) listen to it.

I think I could stop the review there but I think that would turn off potential readers, after all, who wants to read a nearly 70-year-old book after being told it's “something your parents listened to”. Even more so, why would anyone want to read a comedy from 1955, everyone knows they invented humor in the 70s. Well if you're still with me, here's why: this is still just as funny and well-written as the day it was published. Like seriously there are some moments in this book that seem straight out of Monty Python or even American works like Caddyshack and for good reason, it's books like this that helped to define the tradition of British Humor. I'm not saying that this is the birthplace of modern comedy or satire, but this book comes from and is itself a part of a shared cultural backdrop rather than a direct influence on modern comedy.

I think what makes it read so well in 2023 is just how relatable it can be. Jim Dixon is a professor at a provincial university and it's clear that he cares just as much for his subject of study as I do, which is to say not at all. He's stuck in a situationship with a girl he doesn't remember ever initiating with and is scared to end it for fear of how she'll take it. He spends the whole of the book trying his best not to be fired while simultaneously doing as little work as humanly possible. That sounds like college if it's ever been described to me, and even if my personal experience wasn't exactly the same Amis hits enough notes on the register to play a recognizable tune. The same social commentary that this made in the 50s, the experience of the first generation of common folk to enter into the elite circles of higher ed still rings true. Modern higher ed has done away with a lot of the pomp and snobbery but I think the experience of trying to get into your doctoral advisor's good books can't have changed much.

All of this is to say that the humor translates well enough over the 70-year culture gulf, this reads like the bones of those classic 80's National Lampoon comedies. Dixon himself is an agent of chaos and a delightful screwball, his approach to the stodgy and alien environment of higher education is what I can only describe as social judo and it is genuinely funny. Having said that it needs to be noted that the social landscape of this period is by modern standards mind-blowingly antiquated and so some of the subtext/satire is lost in translation since everything seems old and out of fashion. As an example, early in the book, Jim is invited to the home of Professor Welsch for a night of madrigals and “culture”. The setup here is a satirical one as even by 1950s conventions, hosting an evening of madrigals is preposterously old-fashioned and a kind of elitist bullshit. From the perspective of a modern reader, the idea of an evening of singing/live performance of any kind in a residence is a totally alien concept so what does it matter if it's madrigals or caroling or whatever else.

This might be the only book that's a part of the English canon that is genuinely still entertaining to read. It goes to show that just because it is old doesn't mean it isn't gold.