Life at the Top (Valancourt 20th Century Classics) - Softcover

Braine, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1941147534 ISBN 13: 9781941147535

Publisher: Valancourt Books, 2015

Synopsis

"It deserves its success. It is very far from being a mere frivolous bestseller." - Anthony Burgess, Observer

"Alive from the first moment to the last." - Listener

"John Braine has brilliantly repeated the success of his first novel." - Arthur Calder-Marshall, Financial Times

In John Braine's remarkable first novel, Room at the Top (1957), he introduced readers to Joe Lampton, a ruthlessly ambitious young working-class man determined to reach the top at any cost. The book became a defining novel of the decade, selling over a million copies and being adapted for an Oscar-winning film.

In Life at the Top (1962), we meet Joe again ten years later, after he has gotten everything he thought he wanted: an upper-class wife, a nice house, a sports car, two children, and a job at the premier firm in town. But despite all his material possessions, Joe's life is strangely empty. His boss treats him with disrespect, his son despises him, and his wife is having an affair. Consumed with a growing anger and discontentment, Joe becomes desperate to escape the life he has created for himself. When he falls in love with the pretty Norah Hauxley, is it a chance to break free and start a new life, or will it prove to be just one more illusory promise of happiness? This edition of Braine's classic features a new introduction by Ben Clarke and a reproduction of the original jacket art.

About this title

About the Author:

BEN CLARKE has taught at Leader University, Taiwan and the University of Derby, UK. He has written on Orwell, utopian writing, and Taiwan, and is currently working on a literary history of the Nineteen-Thirties.

About this edition

• Publisher: Valancourt Books
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1941147534
• ISBN 13: 9781941147535
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 236