Listen to a sample
Lucky Jim
- Author
- Kingsley Amis
- Narrator
- James Lailey
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 28 February 2023
- Run Time
- 9 hours 38 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
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.
Critics Review
-
“Kingsley Amis’s 1954 book is, despite its unreconstructed attitude toward women, one of the funniest novels ever written…Narrator James Lailey delivers the story with brio, never overplaying the comedy but conveying the mood and mien of the characters as they appear to Jim, foremost among them being the frightful Welch.”
Washington Post (audio review)
-
“Contains some of the finest comic set pieces in the language.”
The Observer (London)
-
“Lucky Jim is as fresh and surprising today as it was in 1954.”
Washington Post
-
“If you can picture Bertie or Jeeves being capable of actual malice and simultaneously imagine Evelyn Waugh forgetting about original sin, you have the combination of innocence and experience that makes this short romp so imperishable.”
Christopher Hitchens, New York Times bestselling author
User Reviews
No reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Kingsley Amis
- Narrator
- James Lailey
- Duration
- 9 hours 38 minutes
- Release Date
- 28 February 2023
- ISBN
- 9798212185110
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Satirical fiction and parodies, Humorous fiction
Synopsis
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.
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK's only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at $13.95. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from $7.95. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.