Life at the Top (1962)
John Braine
With a new introduction by Ben Clarke
Book Description
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. It 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 only one more illusory promise of happiness? This edition of Braine’s classic features a new introduction by Ben Clarke.
John Braine
With a new introduction by Ben Clarke
Book Description
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. It 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 only one more illusory promise of happiness? This edition of Braine’s classic features a new introduction by Ben Clarke.
reviews
“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
“This book reaches depths of emotion which Room at the Top did not . . . masterful.” – Time and Tide
“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
“This book reaches depths of emotion which Room at the Top did not . . . masterful.” – Time and Tide
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BOOK DETAILS
ISBN: 1941147534 ISBN-13: 978-1941147535 $16.99 US, 236 pp. Trade paper Published 2015 |
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
John Gerard Braine was born in Bradford, Yorkshire in 1922. He sprang to immediate fame in 1957 with publication of his first novel, Room at the Top, which was a critical success and a major bestseller in England and America and was adapted for the screen in an Oscar-winning 1959 film starring Simone Signoret and Laurence Harvey. His second novel, The Vodi (1959), met with mixed reviews and a disappointing reception, but was Braine’s favourite of his own works. His next book, Life at the Top (1962), a sequel to Room at the Top, sold well and was filmed in 1965.
Braine, who was commonly associated with what the British media dubbed the ‘Angry Young Men’ movement of working-class writers disenchanted with the traditional British class system, continued writing until his death in 1986, though as of 2013, all his works were out of print. Recently, there has been renewed interest in Braine’s work, with Valancourt Books’ reissues of Room at the Top and The Vodi, and a 2012 BBC miniseries adaptation of Room at the Top.
Braine, who was commonly associated with what the British media dubbed the ‘Angry Young Men’ movement of working-class writers disenchanted with the traditional British class system, continued writing until his death in 1986, though as of 2013, all his works were out of print. Recently, there has been renewed interest in Braine’s work, with Valancourt Books’ reissues of Room at the Top and The Vodi, and a 2012 BBC miniseries adaptation of Room at the Top.