“Lucky Jim” Amis in brief summary
Jim Dixon, the protagonist of the novel, works as a history teacher at an English provincial university. He teaches there for the first year and is not yet enrolled in the job, but is undergoing a probationary period. But from the very beginning he makes a bad impression on his colleagues. Still would. In the first days of his stay at the faculty, he manages to injure the professor of English. He would move calmly and sedately, as a respected teacher of a respectable English university should, and he… When leaving the library, Dixon lends a small round stone lying on the sidewalk, and the one who describes an arc of about fifteen yards in the air, of course, meets at his way the knee of the professor. Dixon here would apologize, but instead he at first with horror and surprise watches the trajectory of the flight of the stone, and then slowly moves away. He did not have the heart to apologize – as always in such cases. Not even two days after this incident, as at the first
I must say that colleagues produce on Dixon, too, not the best impression. But there’s nothing to do. Everybody wants to get into the staff. Therefore, mentally drawing caricatures of his colleagues and building funny faces, Dixon pays a great tribute to hypocrisy and tries to look like everyone else. And even, trying to smooth out the bad impression of his own person, is engaged in scientific work, writes an article “The impact of economic factors on the development of shipbuilding skills in the period from 1450 to 1485”. True, Dixon understands the meaninglessness of his pseudoscientific studies and notes to himself that his article deserves nothing but a few strong and obscene expressions.
Once Welch invites Dixon to come to him on the weekend and help organize a musical evening. He also gives him the task to prepare a lecture on the topic “Old good England” by the end of the semester. In the house of Welch Dixon meets Margaret, who also teaches at the university. Three weeks ago she tried to commit suicide because of an unsuccessful novel with a certain Cachpole. After Margaret left the hospital, she lives at Welch, in the house of the professor and his wife. Dixon began dating Margaret shortly after he began teaching at the university. At first he simply accepted Margaret’s invitation from courtesy and went to her for a cup of coffee, and then suddenly, without realizing how it happened, he turned out to be a man “seen everywhere with Margaret”. At the same time, he is not Margaret’s lover, but, as it were, acts as a comforter,
On a musical evening for Welch Dickson comes only because he is dependent on the professor and wants to make a good impression on him. There also comes the son of the professor, Bertrand, accompanied by Christina Callegen, the niece of a certain Julius Gore-Erquhart, to whom Bertrand hopes to enter the service. Dixon takes her for another woman, for Bertrand’s former bride. That is again an unpleasant misunderstanding, as a result of which Dixon does not have a relationship with the son of the professor from the very beginning. Enraged and upset, Jim quietly leaves the house of Welch and goes to the pub. Back he returns late at night, pretty drunk. He enters Margaret’s room and tries to pester her for the first time. Margaret expels Dickson, and he descends to the first floor in the buffet, where to already drunk he adds half a bottle of port wine. As a result, having risen to his room and falling asleep with a lit cigarette, the bed linen, carpet and bedside table burn. In the morning Dixon descends into the dining room, meets Christina there and tells her about a small night fire in his bedroom. Christina rises with Dixon upstairs and helps him to cover up the traces of the fire. Then Jim tells the owners that his parents have suddenly come to him and that he has to leave.
The second time Dixon meets with Christina at a summer ball at the university, where he came with Margaret. And Christina is there in the company of Bertrand and her uncle, Julius Gore-Erquhart. Throughout the evening, Bertrand talks exclusively with Uncle Christina. Margaret also tries to attract the attention of Gore-Erquhart. Dixon sees that Christina, as well as him, is bored at this ball, and he invites her to leave and is called to conduct it. On the way to the taxi they have a sincere conversation, and Christina asks Dixon if she should marry Bertrand. Dixon gives a negative answer, clarifying that he likes Christina, and Bertrand does not. When they drive up to the house of Welch, where the girl is visiting, Jim asks the driver to wait, and he goes to see Christina home. They climb into the house through the window. Once inside the room, young people kiss for the first time, then Dixon confesses to Christina in love. Leaving, Jim negotiates with Christina about the next meeting.
A few days later, Professor Welch again invites Dixon to dinner. However, when Jim comes to the professor, he apologizes, informs that there was a misunderstanding and that he goes to the theater that evening. Jim meets Welchy Bertrand. Young people seriously quarrel over the fact that Dickson at that time took Christina off a summer ball. Returning home, Dixon reflects on the futility of his meetings with Christina and even tries to cancel the meeting. They nevertheless meet, and Christina tells Jim that they do not need to see each other anymore, because she is connected with Bertrand. However, after a while, at the moment when Jim is preparing for a lecture on “Old good England”, Bertrand enters his room and rudely tells him that he no longer dares to meet with Christina. And then Dixon, who was already himself decided not to meet with the girl, to spite Bertrand, says that he has serious intentions. Bertrand beats Dixon in the face, and a fight begins in which Jim ultimately triumphs, knocking the opponent off his feet, and then escorts him out of the room.
On the day when Dickson needed to read his lecture, he drank half a dozen portions of whiskey with his neighbor Bill Atkinson in the morning. Then at the reception before the lecture he drinks a few more sherry glasses. And before the exit to the podium Jim meets Julius Gore-Erquart and treats him undiluted Scotch whiskey. As a result, Jim Dixon tries to lecture completely drunk. But he does not succeed. He only laughs at the audience, repeating exactly the intonations of Professor Welch and the dean. In the end, alcohol, excitement and heat take their toll, and he loses consciousness. The next morning he receives a letter from Professor Welch, where he advises Dixon to leave. And in the afternoon he is called by Julius Gore-Erquart and offers a place for a personal secretary. This is exactly the place Bertrand sought from Uncle Christina. Jim, of course, embraces delight. On the same day, Dixon finds Catchpole, and in conversation with him it turns out that Margaret just played the suicide attempt scene, taking a safe dose of sleeping pills. And then Jim returns to his place, where Bill Atkinson is waiting to tell him: he just talked on the phone with Christine, she leaves and she needs to give Dixon something very important. Jim rushes to the station, finds there Christina, who tells him that she broke with Bertrand: it turns out that Bertrand continues to meet with his longtime mistress. Dixon tells her her news, say, from now on he will work with her uncle and is ready to go to London after Christina. Holding hands, young people proudly pass by the dumbfounded Welch family. Silent scene. that Margaret simply played the suicide attempt scene by taking a safe dose of sleeping pills. And then Jim returns to his place, where Bill Atkinson is waiting to tell him: he just talked on the phone with Christine, she leaves and she needs to give Dixon something very important. Jim rushes to the station, finds there Christina, who tells him that she broke with Bertrand: it turns out that Bertrand continues to meet with his longtime mistress. Dixon tells her her news, say, from now on he will work with her uncle and is ready to go to London after Christina. Holding hands, young people proudly pass by the dumbfounded Welch family. Silent scene. that Margaret simply played the suicide attempt scene by taking a safe dose of sleeping pills. And then Jim returns to his place, where Bill Atkinson is waiting to tell him: he just talked on the phone with Christine, she leaves and she needs to give Dixon something very important. Jim rushes to the station, finds there Christina, who tells him that she broke with Bertrand: it turns out that Bertrand continues to meet with his longtime mistress. Dixon tells her her news, say, from now on he will work with her uncle and is ready to go to London after Christina. Holding hands, young people proudly pass by the dumbfounded Welch family. Silent scene. she leaves and she needs to give Dixon something very important. Jim rushes to the station, finds there Christina, who tells him that she broke with Bertrand: it turns out that Bertrand continues to meet with his longtime mistress. Dixon tells her her news, say, from now on he will work with her uncle and is ready to go to London after Christina. Holding hands, young people proudly pass by the dumbfounded Welch family. Silent scene. she leaves and she needs to give Dixon something very important. Jim rushes to the station, finds there Christina, who tells him that she broke with Bertrand: it turns out that Bertrand continues to meet with his longtime mistress. Dixon tells her her news, say, from now on he will work with her uncle and is ready to go to London after Christina. Holding hands, young people proudly pass by the dumbfounded Welch family. Silent scene.
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