Private's Progress

by Alan Hackney

Alan Hackney's first novel, Private's Progress tells the story of the hapless Stanley Windrush. Called up in 1942 after his first year at Oxford, and despite his best efforts to avoid any kind of work or action, Stanley wanders from one mishap to the next, causing mayhem and meeting a host of unscrupulous characters along the way. First published in 1954, Private's Progress was later made into a Boulting Brothers' film of the same name, and is the prequel to I'm All Right Jack, also published by Faber Finds.

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2011

Reviews

[Stevyn Colgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was everything I expected and surprisingly close to the 1954 Boulting Brothers movie version (starring Ian Carmichael, Richard Attenborough, Terry-Thomas etc.) of the same name. A gentle, witty comedy of a kind that barely still exists any more. Thankfully, the flag is still being waved by people like Helen Fielding and Michael Frayn. I'm now moving on to the sequel 'Private Life' which was also made into a film in 1959 called 'I'm All right Jack' starring most of the same cast but with a BAFTA-winning performance by Peter Sellers as Fred Kite, the fiery Trades Union rep, as well.