Kingsley Amis’s Lucky Jim

Having branched to our first novel with All Quiet on the Western Front, the Human Action Podcast begs your indulgence for one of the works of 20th century British satire. Lucky Jim is the late Kingsley Amis’s seminal send-up of campus life, and it’s among your host’s favorite books. The book takes place in 1951, and England is trying but failing to lose its class distinctions. The protagonist Jim Dixon is singularly unfit for the academic life he’s chosen, and the opportunities for Amis to skewer both the academy and English society are manifest.

Allen Mendenhall of Troy University joins the show to discuss the academic pretenses and foibles punctured by Amis, along with great insights about Amis’s background and political views. If you like satire, don’t miss this show or this book!