Kingsley Amis' witty campus novel Lucky Jim" is a comedy that skewers the hypocrisies & vanities of 1950s academic life. This " Penguin Modern Classics" edition contains an introduction by David Lodge. Jim Dixon has accidentally fallen into a job at one of Britain's new red brick universities. A moderately successful future in the History Department beckons
- as long as Jim can stave off the unwelcome advances of fellow lecturer Margaret survive a madrigal-singing weekend at Professor Welch's deliver a lecture on ' Merrie England' & resist Christine the hopelessly desirable girlfriend of Welch's awful son Bertr&. Inspired by Amis's friend the poet Philip Larkin Jim Dixon is a timeless comic character adrift in a hopelessly gauche & pretentious world. Kingsley Amis (1922-1995) born in London wrote poetry criticism & short stories but is best remembered as the novelist whose works offered a comic deconstruction of post-war Britain. Amis explored his disillusionment with British society in novels such as " Lucky Jim" (1954) & " That Uncertain Feeling" (1955); his other works include " The Green Man" (1970) " Stanley & the Women" (1984) & " The Old Devils" (1986) which won the Booker Prize. If you enjoyed " Lucky Jim" you might like Amis's " The King's English" also available in " Penguin Modern Classics". "A flawless comic novel...I loved it then as I do now. It has always made me laugh out loud." (Helen Dunmore " The Times"). "A brilliantly & preposterously funny book." (" Guardian")."
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His mouth had been used as a latrine by some small creature of the night & then as a mausoleum. During the night too hed somehow been on a cross-country run & then been expertly beaten up by secret police. He felt bad. Jix Dixon has a terrible job at a second-rate university. His life is full of things he could happily do without: the tedious & ridiculous Professor Welch a neurotic & unstable girlfriend Margaret burnt sheets medieval recorder music & over-enthusiastic students. If he can just deliver a lecture on Merrie England a moderately successful career surely awaits him. But without luck life is never simple... ...

Brothers Adolph & Arthur Caille are mechanical geniuses. Theyve just created one of the first slot machines & have presented it to their local senator a notorious gambler. Much taken with the device he agrees to send them on a tour of American cities to test the machines popularity. & to escort them on this dangerous journey he calls on his old friend Lucky Luke
- So begins the wacky tale of how the one-armed bandit conquered the West!
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A general amnesty puts the Daltons back on the streets something Lucky Luke isn't happy about. & to make it worse they seem to have become model citizens. It's all an act though & it doesn't take long for the stupidest quartet in the West to be back behind bars. Luke is already riding off into the sunset
- But he's not counting on a riled-up Apache tribe that attacks the penitentiary where the Daltons are locked up -
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1861. Abraham Lincoln orders that the First Transcontinental Telegraph line currently interrupted between Nevada & Nebraska be completed. Two teams one heading east from Carson City & the other west from Omaha will meet up in Salt Lake City. Lucky Luke joins the eastbound team. But when a $100 000 reward is offered to the first team to arrive theres suddenly more to fear than the natural obstacles of the journey: A saboteur seems to be at work! ...

At the end of the Civil War many former soldiers turn to a life of crime to survive. Joss Jamon & his gang are among the worst of such men. After sacking the town of Los Palitos they arrange for Lucky Luke to be arrested for their crimes. The lonesome cowboy a rope already around his neck is forced to make a deal with the angry citizens: Bring the real bandits back within six months or hang. ...

When a senator comes up with a probation program to redeem criminals in the USA the Supreme Court offers him a chance to prove the feasibility of his idea...by trying it out on the worst Old West villains ever: the Daltons. As usual it's up to Lucky Luke to keep an eye on the terrible four during their month-long trial period. If they can refrain from any crime during that time they will be set free as good citizens... ...

Two rival families live in Painful Gulch: the OTimmins clan who have big noses & the OHaras who have big ears. Theyve been fighting for decades & dont even know why anymore. Lucky Luke is appointed mayor in order to bring peace back to the town. But the men & their thick-headed sense of honour will wreck all of Lucky Lukes plans for reconciliation. Our hero must find a solution! ...

At the funeral of old Baddy everybody is moved except Ready who has waited for the 100-year-old mans death a long time in order to buy his ranch. Unfortunately the old fellow has an heir Waldo a tenderfoot who arrives straight from his native England accompanied by his butler Jasper. Two worlds clash: the ancient so refined & the new equally rustic. ...

The Daltons escape from a Texas jail & head over to Canada. Lucky Luke is called in to get them back to jail. He & Rintincan his second faithful companion after Jolly Jumper follow them all the way to Canada where Captain Winston Pendergast offers his help. ...