James's review
Lucky Jim (Penguin Classics)
by Kingsley Amis
James's review
Lucky Jim (Penguin Classics) by Kingsley Amis
James's review
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A wonderful, scathing critique of academia and the seminal campus novel, Lucky Jim remains hilarious to this day. Amis tackles issues that transcend post-WWII Great Britain; the sense of helpless dissatisfaction with one's life choices, the wide gulf between what we think and how we act, and the masturbatory nature of what are considered "intellectual" pursuits are all addressed with his sparkling wit. Perhaps most enjoyable for the reader, though, is how Amis arms his Jim with a love of pranks, an unquenchable thirst for booze, and a litany of the best facial expressions in literature ("the shot-in-the-back face," "the Martian invader face," "the Evelyn Waugh face," and everyone's favorite, "the Sex Life in Ancient Roman" face).
