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Kingsley Amis's Lucky International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Vol. 29, No. 9s, (2020), pp. 828-836 Kingsley Amis’s Lucky Jim: A Parody on Changing Social Order in Post War England Tanu Bura Research Scholar, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Maharishi Markandeshwar (Deemed to be University) Mullana (Ambala) Dr. Ramandeep Mahal, Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Maharishi Markandeshwar (Deemed to be University) Mullana (Ambala) Abstract The 1950s, a period following the Second World War, was actually the beginning of an era which extends to date when class identity by virtue of birth and upbringing in England was overcome by individual achievement and social mobility between class levels. Importance of class identity is diminishing in all modern societies where access to education becomes the prime reason for social mobility. Amis in his works generally deals with the restructuring of British society post World War II. One of the effects was seen in the English education system where educational opportunities were opened to the youth of the working and middle classes. The advent of provincial universities and the declining influence of the culturally elite led to social friction between both the classes. During the 1950s England actually witnessed a period of prosperity which percolated to an emerging middle- class and also (to a certain extent) the working-class. Expanding higher educational opportunity suddenly gave a jump to the social mobility of these classes. This period has actually quite a few authors who emerged and expounded narratives which were effective in describing the social effect that this war had upon society. The expression "Angry Young Man" was not used or related to the gathering until after John Osborne's play Look Back in Anger had been distributed. However a portion of the essayists who are regularly related with the term achieved lime light as a result of the quickness of their works being distributed. Amis can be described as one of them. This work of his represents the conflict inside the then scholarly world and elaborates on the social and political air of the College through it in comic terms. Keywords: England, social, class, mobility. Introduction: Kingsley Amis is the part of the group that was called “Angry young men.” The name was given and cemented by the critics who thought that all the writers of the group wrote about same problems of the society and showcased anger towards the prevailing conditions and all the writers associated with the movement propounded a “particular view of England and Englishness often characterized as regressive and reactionary” (Leader, Movement 247). It is an important point to note that “none of the writers was happy with the group label, though all the four , to the varying degrees, played some part in promoting it” (Leader, Movement 247). In fact, the work of these writers is reactionary to the social values of the time where “the culture of wealthy minority section of the population was projected as the ‘standard’ or ‘true’ culture” (Nayar 5). The culture of the middle class and lower classes was considered deviant and Kingsley Amis belonged to the lower middle class. His father was a humble clerk. So through his writings he shows his anger towards the higher sections of the society and subsequently by parodying their practices legitimizes the culture of his own class. Amis’s work deserves attention as a serious study of the British Academic World of the time narrated with a comic overtone. Jim Dixon, a freshly inducted lecturer is on probation in a British University. He moves from one awkward situation to another involving fellow functionaries and students all leading to comic misadventures. His appointment is in constant peril, at times because of his own ISSN: 2005-4238 IJAST 828 Copyright ⓒ 2020 SERSC International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Vol. 29, No. 9s, (2020), pp. 828-836 misdeeds. Lucky Jim entertains due to these disastrous but amusing situations. A drunk Dixon’s lecture on ‘Merrie England’ is one of the comical high points of this work. Study of changing structure in society and resulting class conflict reflected in the parody of events in Kingsley Amis ‘Lucky Jim’ in the back drop of this period is actually the aim of this paper . Presentation Following the war social change in Great Britain became apparent and the evolving of equal society became visible. The Labour Party came to power in 1945 giving birth to a Welfare State where social security, pensions, joblessness benefits and free National Health Service were introduced. Radical changes in the Education system also were brought where welfare schooling and state funded higher education gave more opportunities to poorer students of the working classes. The 1944 Education Act was intended to open universities to all and provide educational opportunities to the underprivileged. A great world power of yesteryear decided to restructure its society, in which the class system would become a thing of the past. A number of working and middle class students were admitted leading to the expansion of the English University system. A lot of such students found themselves rubbing shoulders with an unfamiliar social class where they felt alienated. This is the scenario our protagonist Jim Dixon found himself in this particular book of Amis. It is pertinent to mention her that Amis at the time of publication of Lucky Jim was “was a 31-year-old junior lecturer in an obscure provincial university” (Leader, Friendship 30) which gives autobiographical veracity to the novel. In brief the endeavours of a working-class Medieval History teacher, Jim Dixon inside the scholarly world dominated by the so called exclusively placed Elite and the resulting social tensions dominate the narrative. He succeeds in getting a decent position at a common college which results in him committing unintended social errors leading to a progression of numerous conflicts with his seniors. After the fiasco at the gathering he addressed in an inebriated state, he loses his scholarly position. He being true to the title of the work is eventually ‘ Lucky’ to find a generously compensated occupation as a secretary. Towards the conclusion of the novel, he also weds Christine the lady whom he adores. His ability to move into the scholarly world from humble beginnings rubbing shoulders with the so called learned elites is the central theme in this work. He begins his profession with a great deal of downsides, like low finances and lack of scholarly aptitude .His choice of subject was actually based upon choosing an easier option rather than as a matter of interest. Inside this system, this paper attempts to discuss about the socio political attempts at levelling the playground for the lower social classes and the circumstance of low class scholastics in England after the war. Through Jim's character, this investigation advances the issues in connection between the expansion of advanced education in England of that period and the attempt to resolve the class-based imbalances. Angry Young Men: A new age group of writers became famous in the ’fifties and were known as ‘The Angry Young Men’. These people emerged from working-class or lower-middle-class backgrounds and were educated in universities but declined to use their education to become part of the routine socialistic elite. Their writing style was not traditional and was dubbed realistic and reflected disdain towards the existing elite classes also displaying the anxiety of the working and lower middle class after the war. General dissatisfaction in the efforts of the welfare state to eliminate social inequality and distaste for the profit motive was also a central theme in their works. The way of thinking of the Angry Young Men: They had a place with the gathering of essayists whose birthplace was in Great Britain around the 1950’s and shared a similar humble social background. This gathering challenged the citadel of upper ISSN: 2005-4238 IJAST 829 Copyright ⓒ 2020 SERSC International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Vol. 29, No. 9s, (2020), pp. 828-836 class British society which dominated the norms and the behaviour of that particular period. It was these young writers fresh from their institutes who actually were grouped together and termed as the ’Angry Young Men’ by the scholars in their own right though most of them belonged to the from the lower half of English society. They are remembered for their disdain towards the upper half and their writings are generally remembered for their anti-establishment and angry views. John Wain, Kingsley Amis, John Braine, Alan Sillitoe, David Storey are a few of the numerous authors classified as the Angry Young Men of that period. Their background was generally modest and their being able to use that particular period for scholastic advancement caused a unfounded bias against the educated elite and this was reflected in their writings. Though they were now of better means and also had an improved status in society but the resentment towards upper classes continued to reflect tin their writings. The dominant character in most works is a young man who is at odds of the society he has been promoted to and is a part of. The resentment for the wealthy and privileged remains ingrained in their mind. These wealthy people were ‘paragon [s] of virtue in the western civilization” (Pal 198). The Angry Young Men as a movement tried to deconstruct the virtues that were associated with the upper classes. The plots normally point to dissent and rejection of the newer environment. Still the way of bailing out Jim remained a marriage to a beautiful young lady of high society. Thus, adding the prefix ‘Lucky’ to him as a title to this work.
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