Lucky Jim is Kingsley Amis’ first novel, published in 1954, and is regarded by some as a modern classic. A comedic novel, it’s the story of James Dixon (Jim), a lecturer at a provincial university. The events take place over several weeks at the end of his first year in the job, it covers his relationships with women, his colleagues and their relatives, and Jim’s struggles to keep his job at the university.
Although described as comedic, I didn’t find this story funny. There were a few amusing moments, but I certainly didn’t ‘laugh out loud’ as one reviewer claimed to. I think the problem was that the novel is very much ‘of its time’. The attitudes and behaviour of the various characters are definitely ‘post-war’ (i.e. shortly after the Second World War). As I’m a product of the late 20th century, the attitudes of men towards women, and particularly the behaviour of the women didn’t sit well with me. In fact, it’s only towards the end of the book that we find out why James Dixon deserves to be called ‘Lucky Jim’.
Lucky Jim was made into a film by the Boulting Brothers in 1957. The film starred Ian Carmichael as Jim and Terry-Thomas as Bertrand Welch and is probably quite funny. Boulting Brothers films usually are, even if they look and sound dated. But comedy that lasts well on the screen with good comedy actors doesn’t always last on the page. I might change my opinion of the story if I ever see the film. For now, I’m ranking this book as one I won’t read again. However, that’s just my opinion and shouldn’t stop anybody else from reading the book.
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