CAE SET BOOK 2009 LUCKY JIM

CAE, LUCKY JIM

Personally, my advice is not to choose this novel unless you have in a particular interest in the writer/historical context. If you are going to choose one book to study, choose The Pelican Brief. I think Lucky Jim is too culturally, and historically specific to be a good choice for the CAE and I am surprised the examiners selected it.

This is the beginning of a summary/overview you can find here:
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/luckyjim/summary.html

Jim Dixon, a junior lecturer in history at a provincial English university in the years after World War II, nears the end of his first year at the school. Dixon has not made a good impression upon the faculty and knows that his superior, the absent-minded Professor Welch, could ask him to leave at the end of term next month. Fearful of making further bad impressions or revealing his inner disgust for Welch, Dixon agrees to give the end-of-term lecture on the theme of "Merrie England" and to stay with the Welches the following weekend for a weekend of music and the arts.

At the party, Dixon meets Welch's son Bertrand and his girlfriend Christine, who have come up to the country from London. Bertrand, an artist, seems pretentious, while Christine seems uptight and unattainable. Dixon escapes to the pub and returns to the Welches' later that night, where he makes a drunken pass at Margaret Peel, a friend and colleague. Margaret has been staying with the Welches as she recovers from a recent suicide attempt caused by a recent break-up. Dixon and Margaret's friendship has rapidly been moving toward something more intimate, thanks to Margaret's subtle pressure and Dixon's pity and good-natured concern for Margaret.

Margaret kicks Dixon out of her room, and he falls asleep while smoking a cigarette. Dixon wakes up in the morning to find he has burned holes in his bedsheets. Afraid of further damaging his chances of keeping his job, Dixon attempts to hide the damage. Christine unexpectedly find Dixon's dilemma funny and agrees to help him.

Dixon thinks about Christine but does not see her again until the college's Summer Ball a couple of weeks later. Margaret and Bertrand both spend the night hanging around Christine's rich uncle Gore-Urquhart, who Bertrand hopes to work for. Dixon's friend Carol Goldsmith finally convinces Dixon to make a move for Christine by revealing that she has been having an affair with Bertrand. Dixon rallies his courage and asks Christine, whom Bertrand has been ignoring, to let him take her home early. Christine agrees and explains to Dixon in the taxi how Bertrand has been mistreating her. Back at the Welches', Christine and Dixon kiss and agree to see each other in two days. When they meet again, however, they decide not to see anymore of each other because of their respective obligations to both Bertrand and Margaret…..

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Lucky Jim

You can read over 70 reviews by Readers of the novel at this Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Penguin-Classics-Kingsley-Amis/product-reviews/0140186301/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_summary?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending