Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
"Lucky Jim" is a novel by Kingsley Amis that follows the life of Jim Dixon, a disillusioned lecturer in medieval history at a provincial English college. The story revolves around Jim's struggle to maintain his precarious job while navigating complicated relationships, particularly with his younger colleague, Margaret Peel. As he attempts to secure his position, Jim finds himself entangled in a series of cultural events and social interactions that only complicate his life further.
The plot unfolds against a backdrop of academic pretensions and social dynamics, highlighting Jim's disdain for the societal expectations imposed on him. His interactions with other key characters, including the ambitious Bertrand and the alluring Christine, expose the tensions between personal desires and professional obligations. The narrative is characterized by Jim's humorous yet critical perspective on the academic environment and the people within it.
As the story progresses, Jim's misadventures lead to a public lecture that serves as a turning point, culminating in his cathartic rejection of the values he initially sought to uphold. Ultimately, Jim's journey through chaos and revelation paves the way for a new beginning, suggesting themes of personal growth and the search for authenticity amidst societal pressures. "Lucky Jim" is both a comedic and poignant exploration of the challenges faced by individuals in the academic world and their quest for genuine connection.
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
First published: 1954
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Social satire
Time of plot: Mid-twentieth century
Locale: An English provincial college
Principal Characters
James “Jim” Dixon , a young history lecturerMargaret Peel , one of his colleaguesProfessor Welch , Dixon’s superiorMrs. Welch , his wifeBertrand Welch , their son and a painterJulius Gore-Urquhart , a rich patron of the artsChristine Callaghan , his nieceCarol Goldsmith , the wife of another history lecturerJohns , a musician and member of the Welch circle
The Story:
Jim Dixon’s predicament is twofold: He has a job—as a lecturer in medieval history at a provincial English college—that he does not really want but is trying hard to keep, and, without quite knowing why, he has become involved with Margaret Peel, a younger but better-established colleague. For the renewal of his contract with the college, Jim is dependent on the mercurial opinion of Professor Welch, a seedy, absentminded historian of independent means in whose country house Margaret is recuperating from a suicide attempt, the apparent result of her having been jilted by Catchpole, Jim’s erstwhile but since departed rival.
Jim tries to improve his professional standing by writing an absurd article on medieval shipbuilding techniques, agreeing to give a public lecture at the college’s annual festival, and accepting an invitation to a cultural weekend of madrigal singing and art talk at Welch’s home. There he meets the professor’s son, Bertrand, a London artist, and Bertrand’s extremely attractive girlfriend, Christine Callaghan; he dislikes them both at first sight, especially Bertrand. Despite Jim’s efforts to the contrary, the cultural weekend results in deeper involvement with Margaret and further damage to his job. After an overdose of culture, he sneaks out to a pub, gets drunk, makes an unsuccessful though solicited pass at Margaret, and falls asleep holding a lighted cigarette, leading to the burning of a rug, a table, and the bedclothes in the Welches’ guest room. With the surprising help of Christine, he partially conceals the fire damage, but Margaret finds Jim and Christine hiding the charred table and uses this as a lever to manipulate Jim into asking her to the college’s annual dress ball.
Bertrand and Christine attend the ball, as does Christine’s uncle, Julius Gore-Urquhart, a rich devotee of the arts. Bertrand is hoping to secure a position, through Christine, as Gore-Urquhart’s private secretary. Gore-Urquhart has brought Carol Goldsmith to the ball; Carol’s husband is also a history lecturer at the college. Telling Jim that she has been having an affair with Bertrand, Carol advises him to drop Margaret and pursue Christine. With both Margaret and Bertrand devoting full and fawning attention to Gore-Urquhart, Jim persuades Christine to leave the ball with him, and they arrange to meet again.
The next morning, Jim faces Margaret, who is furious at having been left at the dance; when he tells her he is through with her, she goes into hysterics. The following day, Jim accompanies Professor Welch home to dinner. There Mrs. Welch confronts him with the burned bedclothes, about which he confesses and apologizes, and Bertrand confronts him about Christine. Left alone with Margaret, he finds himself, without much resistance, falling back into his old, ambiguous relationship with her; she does not object. When he meets Christine for tea, they agree not to see each other again, for she is involved with Bertrand in the same way he is involved with Margaret.
The following evening, Jim—sporting a black eye after a fight with Bertrand over Christine—gives his public lecture. Under the influence of the few stiff drinks he has had beforehand, he turns the lecture, which he had planned as an encomium to Welch’s prejudices, into a condemnation of them. He parodies a number of people, including Welch, and falls into a drunken stupor just as he is finally beginning to speak for himself and attack Welch’s values directly.
After word comes that he is to be fired, Jim meets Catchpole, who had been in Wales, and discovers that the latter had never really been involved with Margaret; her suicide attempt was a hoax carefully planned to entrap them both. Gore-Urquhart offers Jim the London job that Bertrand had been seeking, and Christine, having broken up with Bertrand, becomes free. As the novel ends, Jim is beginning a new job in a new city with the promise of a new and better romance.
Bibliography
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