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At the Top #2
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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?
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?
260 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
30 people are currently reading
375 people want to read
About the author
John Braine
36 books39 followersJohn 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
October 2, 2011
I read John Braine’s debut Room at the Top a few weeks ago and enjoyed it very much. Set ten years from the events of that novel, Life at the Top chronicles the life and trials of Joe Lampton, a once ambitious man of humble origins who has discovered that ‘life at the top’ (well, in the upper middle classes) is not all it was cracked up to be.
A fantastic snapshot of a certain time and place (England’s industrial north in the early-1960s), of a certain class consciousness (a rising proletariat and declining landed gentry) and a shifting gender and sexual politics. Life at the Top was seemingly lost in the rush of ‘angry young men’ novels that emerged in the UK in the late-1950s and seems now long forgotten. This is a shame, because it’s definitely a worthwhile addition to the canon and a worthy sequel to a fine debut from Braine.
The plot could have easily degenerated into the clichéd kitchen sink realism and soap opera, but I certainly think that Braine’s portrayal of one man’s mid-life crisis – at 35!!! – is a convincing and affecting one. I’d recommend this highly, and even more so when read in conjunction with the first novel.
A fantastic snapshot of a certain time and place (England’s industrial north in the early-1960s), of a certain class consciousness (a rising proletariat and declining landed gentry) and a shifting gender and sexual politics. Life at the Top was seemingly lost in the rush of ‘angry young men’ novels that emerged in the UK in the late-1950s and seems now long forgotten. This is a shame, because it’s definitely a worthwhile addition to the canon and a worthy sequel to a fine debut from Braine.
The plot could have easily degenerated into the clichéd kitchen sink realism and soap opera, but I certainly think that Braine’s portrayal of one man’s mid-life crisis – at 35!!! – is a convincing and affecting one. I’d recommend this highly, and even more so when read in conjunction with the first novel.
October 8, 2011
In Life at the Top we catch up with eternal pessimist Joe Lampton 10 years after his introduction in Braine's debut, Room at the Top. Initially, we are led to believe that everything has changed; the 50s have become the 60s, Joe is married with kids and has a decent job with his father-in-law. Early on, I began to get almost bored and thoughts of a 2 star rating emerged as Joe's rather mundane life unfolded.
I persevered, and slowly but surely the selfish, whining child inside Joe surfaced as his mid life crisis arrived prematurely. Joe is a wonderful creation, an angst ridden Yorkshireman who is never happy with his lot. The saying, "The grass is always greener on the other side... until you get there" must have been coined for Joe. The story doesn't really matter here, although it comes across as an authentic slice of 1960s Yorkshire life, the main act is Joe's constant stuggle to make his life worth living.
Life at the Top is a worthwhile sequel, although despite my 4 star rating it's not quite the classic that it's predecessor was. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone who has read Room at the Top, as long as they haven't had enough of the miserable, self-seeking Joe Lampton.
I persevered, and slowly but surely the selfish, whining child inside Joe surfaced as his mid life crisis arrived prematurely. Joe is a wonderful creation, an angst ridden Yorkshireman who is never happy with his lot. The saying, "The grass is always greener on the other side... until you get there" must have been coined for Joe. The story doesn't really matter here, although it comes across as an authentic slice of 1960s Yorkshire life, the main act is Joe's constant stuggle to make his life worth living.
Life at the Top is a worthwhile sequel, although despite my 4 star rating it's not quite the classic that it's predecessor was. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone who has read Room at the Top, as long as they haven't had enough of the miserable, self-seeking Joe Lampton.
December 2, 2018
Mi-a atras atentia urmatorul pasaj:
"Privind inapoi, nu vedeam altceva decat un sir interminabil de lupte: lupta ca sa ajung la scoala din Dufton, lupta ca sa-mi trec examenele de admitere, lupta ca sa ajung functionar la casieria din Dufton, lupta ca sa ma insor cu Susan, si lunga harta pe care numai din vara o cunoscusem cu adevarat, a casatoriei insasi. Curand aveam sa incep viata cea noua, viata pe care eu o alesesem; in sfarsit traiam in prezent."
Joe se hotaraste sa lase totul in urma la un moment dat si pleaca la Londra, dorind sa stea impreuna cu amanta sa. In acel pasaj se regasesc ganduri pe care le putem avea oricand, chiar daca nu ne aflam in situatia lui Joe. Insa se va intoarce inapoi acasa, cand va afla ca fiul sau Harry are nevoie de el. Susan il inselase si ea in tot acest timp, chiar o descopera intr-o seara impreuna cu Mark. Afla si ca fiica sa, pe care o iubea foarte mult, Barbara, de fapt nu era a lui. Insa in final Joe revine acasa.
Joe impresioneaza prin comportamentul fata de copiii sai, chiar si Harry tinea la tatal sau desi Joe nu avea impresia aceasta.
Chiar si intr-o casatorie din interes apar legaturi sincere, intre tata si copiii sai.
"Privind inapoi, nu vedeam altceva decat un sir interminabil de lupte: lupta ca sa ajung la scoala din Dufton, lupta ca sa-mi trec examenele de admitere, lupta ca sa ajung functionar la casieria din Dufton, lupta ca sa ma insor cu Susan, si lunga harta pe care numai din vara o cunoscusem cu adevarat, a casatoriei insasi. Curand aveam sa incep viata cea noua, viata pe care eu o alesesem; in sfarsit traiam in prezent."
Joe se hotaraste sa lase totul in urma la un moment dat si pleaca la Londra, dorind sa stea impreuna cu amanta sa. In acel pasaj se regasesc ganduri pe care le putem avea oricand, chiar daca nu ne aflam in situatia lui Joe. Insa se va intoarce inapoi acasa, cand va afla ca fiul sau Harry are nevoie de el. Susan il inselase si ea in tot acest timp, chiar o descopera intr-o seara impreuna cu Mark. Afla si ca fiica sa, pe care o iubea foarte mult, Barbara, de fapt nu era a lui. Insa in final Joe revine acasa.
Joe impresioneaza prin comportamentul fata de copiii sai, chiar si Harry tinea la tatal sau desi Joe nu avea impresia aceasta.
Chiar si intr-o casatorie din interes apar legaturi sincere, intre tata si copiii sai.
September 14, 2014
When I discovered that there was a sequel to Room At The Top, I couldn't resist getting hold of a copy to find out what happened next to Joe Lampton. Ten years have passed, and things have turned out pretty much as one would have expected. Joe is now married to the boss' daughter, they have two children and a very comfortable life. And even though he now carries some middle aged spread, he still has, or at least tries to have, his way with the ladies. But in spite of all that, Joe isn't happy.
As other reviewers have noted, the story takes a while to develop and isn't quite as dramatic as its predecessor. A nice, not very taxing, read.
As other reviewers have noted, the story takes a while to develop and isn't quite as dramatic as its predecessor. A nice, not very taxing, read.
December 26, 2013
I enjoyed reading both of these books very much. I also identify,in some measure, with the main character, Joe Lampton. As a young man he desperatly longs for money and success that will, as he hopes, make him happy. He longs for the feeling of being accepted by the upper social class.After arriving to a town full of riches, he falls in love with a woman,Alice Aisgil, who is ten years older than he is. Experiencing passionate and forbidden love he realizes what truly makes him happy.Despite this, he leaves her after some time in order to marry daughter of a rich man and Alice dies in a car crash. The second part is describing Joe´s life at the top. He has achieved everything he wanted by living in a mansion, marrying beautiful and rich woman and having two lovely kids.Nonetheless, he is not satisfied and his arguments with wife are becoming more and more frequent.Along with this,his effort at work is being marginalised.After discovering the infidelity of his wife, he decides to move out and start fresh with his mistress.Living in an old house, where nothing is cosy and stylish he comes back to his wife.
As I said earlier, I identify with Mr Lampton in his ambition for better life. From my point of view, money makes your life better, no matter what others say.Being able to afford something you long for, definitely makes you feel proud of yourself.Another essential thing to remember is that one can´t have everything. You can´t raise your children properly,have a good job, a marriage without fights and still look amazing.I think that people need to find balance between these things in order to be really happy. And most importantly, everybody is just a human. And humans lie, cheat and hate.
As I said earlier, I identify with Mr Lampton in his ambition for better life. From my point of view, money makes your life better, no matter what others say.Being able to afford something you long for, definitely makes you feel proud of yourself.Another essential thing to remember is that one can´t have everything. You can´t raise your children properly,have a good job, a marriage without fights and still look amazing.I think that people need to find balance between these things in order to be really happy. And most importantly, everybody is just a human. And humans lie, cheat and hate.
August 7, 2019
Povestioară bună, modul de a descrie nu prea. (Posibil traducerea nu e cea mai bună, dar oricum)
Personajul mi s-a părut cam plat, fără consistență, provoacă scârbă. Un disperat de atenție feminină. Orice femeie întâlnită era descrisă ca iubirea vieții lui.
Finalul, de asemenea, demonstrează cât de jalnic este. (Poate eu ceva nu înțeleg ;)). )
Personajul mi s-a părut cam plat, fără consistență, provoacă scârbă. Un disperat de atenție feminină. Orice femeie întâlnită era descrisă ca iubirea vieții lui.
Finalul, de asemenea, demonstrează cât de jalnic este. (Poate eu ceva nu înțeleg ;)). )
May 4, 2014
Disappointing follow-up to the classic Room at the Top as married life and ambition fulfilled is no substitute for love.
Want to read
February 20, 2016Sequel to Room at the Top: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
If/when I read this, tell Sue first:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
If/when I read this, tell Sue first:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
August 24, 2022
Read it 50 years ago in Czech. Loved it.
August 25, 2024
John Braine followed his phenomenally successful debut Room at the Top (RATT) with this sequel in which we catch up with Joe Lampton ten years on from the events of the first book. He has now pretty much got everything he set out to achieve in RATT: a big house, flash car, attractive wife, and a decent job working for his father-in-law. Except – surprise, surprise – none of it has made him happy. Instead Lampton and the other characters are muddling unhappily through a dreary middle age landscape of affairs, family arguments, tiresome office politics and querulous kitchen sink melodrama, all while fretting over how life has not turned out the way they’d wanted.
As you’ve guessed it’s a mid-life crisis novel and this alone makes it problematic as a sequel to RATT. In Braine’s debut Lampton was an Angry Young Man and that gave him a bit of rebellious cutting edge glamour, but now he’s just another bored and discontented suburbanite. This has proved to be a rich source of material for many writers and LATT was absorbing enough to keep me turning the pages, but by the end the story seemed to have come full circle without saying anything particularly new or insightful. A watchable film version was made in 1965 suggesting that it’s one of those narratives that work better on screen than on the page.
After RATT I really wanted to like LATT more, but it’s a curiously unsatisfying and somewhat superfluous sequel. One for Braine completists only and there can’t be too many of those around these days.
As you’ve guessed it’s a mid-life crisis novel and this alone makes it problematic as a sequel to RATT. In Braine’s debut Lampton was an Angry Young Man and that gave him a bit of rebellious cutting edge glamour, but now he’s just another bored and discontented suburbanite. This has proved to be a rich source of material for many writers and LATT was absorbing enough to keep me turning the pages, but by the end the story seemed to have come full circle without saying anything particularly new or insightful. A watchable film version was made in 1965 suggesting that it’s one of those narratives that work better on screen than on the page.
After RATT I really wanted to like LATT more, but it’s a curiously unsatisfying and somewhat superfluous sequel. One for Braine completists only and there can’t be too many of those around these days.
January 1, 2021
'Room At The Top' was a pretty explosive novel when it was first published in 1957, and this sequel perhaps inevitably suffers from 'second album syndrome', as we meet Joe Lampton ten years on, firmly a part of small-town Yorkshire establishment with a favourable position at his father-in-law's business and as a town councillor, but still pursuing quick thrills and struggling with the demands of fatherhood and a terminal marriage. Braine's descriptive talents are a little dimmed in his second novel and you won't really feel gripped until the final, third act, but a worthy enough successor to a major literary event.
May 8, 2023
True happiness! What an illusion. Ask John Braine's main character. Although I did not like this novel, I bought it because I wanted to have a feel of what is like to live life at the top. Their are people who have made it their aim to live their lives through eating, drinking, making love, growing rich, and becoming famous. It is what most people dream of. Should we give our passions free reign,? Should we venture boldly and unrepentantly into this world? Maybe! But, maybe it is also time to look at things differently. The great ascetic once collected his students around him and said,
Is true happiness having no ambition but working like a horse as if you had every ambition? Is it to live far from men, not to need them and yet to love them? To take part in the festivities and, after eating and drinking well, to escape on your own far from all the snares, to have the stars above, the land to your left and the sea to your right: and to realize of a sudden that, in your heart, life has accomplished its final miracle: it has become a fairy tale. How we wish. Troubles were made for young men. Maybe we should not listen to the old. Maybe it is true that if the world did heed them, it would rush headlong to its destruction.
Woe to him who has not within himself the sources of happiness.
Woe to him who wants to please others.
Woe to him who does not feel like this world and the next are but one.
Is true happiness having no ambition but working like a horse as if you had every ambition? Is it to live far from men, not to need them and yet to love them? To take part in the festivities and, after eating and drinking well, to escape on your own far from all the snares, to have the stars above, the land to your left and the sea to your right: and to realize of a sudden that, in your heart, life has accomplished its final miracle: it has become a fairy tale. How we wish. Troubles were made for young men. Maybe we should not listen to the old. Maybe it is true that if the world did heed them, it would rush headlong to its destruction.
July 30, 2013
Joe Lampton, un tânăr de origini modeste, dar care are o ambiție de nemăsurat în a-și întrece condiția inițială. Acesta dorește cu îndârjire să urce pe treptele societății, până în vârf unde se află ”înalta societate” care semnifică bogăția, mașini de lux și femei frumoase.
Se spune că scopul scuză mijloacele și că orice are un preț. Prețul succesului este uriaș pentru Joe, fiind dispus să trădeze pe toată lumea și să își trădeze propriile principii și origini.
Primul pas făcut de el este să se mute din Dufton, orașul lipsit de culoare și prăfuit, în Warley care este văzut de el ca un oraș plin de viață. Acesta se angajează ca funcționar la primărie, unde întâlnește persoanele emblematice ale orașului. Totuși viața în această nouă postură nu i se pare mult diferită de cea din Dufton, deoarece nu este genul de om care se mulțumește cu puțin, ci cel care întotdeauna vrea mai mult, și trăiește totul la intensitate maximă.
Din fericire este tânăr și are un șarm dezarmant, reușind să fie primit în ”crema” socială a Warley-ului, dar nu acceptat în totalitate.
[...]
http://www.imforeveryoung.info/drumul...
Se spune că scopul scuză mijloacele și că orice are un preț. Prețul succesului este uriaș pentru Joe, fiind dispus să trădeze pe toată lumea și să își trădeze propriile principii și origini.
Primul pas făcut de el este să se mute din Dufton, orașul lipsit de culoare și prăfuit, în Warley care este văzut de el ca un oraș plin de viață. Acesta se angajează ca funcționar la primărie, unde întâlnește persoanele emblematice ale orașului. Totuși viața în această nouă postură nu i se pare mult diferită de cea din Dufton, deoarece nu este genul de om care se mulțumește cu puțin, ci cel care întotdeauna vrea mai mult, și trăiește totul la intensitate maximă.
Din fericire este tânăr și are un șarm dezarmant, reușind să fie primit în ”crema” socială a Warley-ului, dar nu acceptat în totalitate.
[...]
http://www.imforeveryoung.info/drumul...
November 26, 2025
"Viața în înalta societate" oferă o privire realistă asupra urmărilor succesului, nu doar pozitive, ci și negative. Acțiunea se petrece la 10 ani după prima parte. Joe Lampton era un tip din clasa mijlocie și a făcut multe sacrificii pentru a ajunge un om de succes. A obținut ceea ce și-a dorit - statut social, bani, e căsătorit cu o femeie dintr-o familie influentă. Dar în adâncul sufletului se simte nefericit! Ambii soți au aventuri extraconjugale din cauză că mariajul nu e bazat pe iubire. Joe nu e într-o relație bună nici cu fiul său.
Protagonistul conștientizează că oamenii din înalta societate sunt reci, lacomi și ipocriți, se folosesc unii pe alții și au o mentalitate total diferită. Joe simte că s-a îndepărtat de cine era cu adevărat. A pierdut ceea ce nu poți cumpăra - bucurie, liniște sufletească, relațiile în cadrul familiei au avut de suferit. Pe parcursul cărții încearcă să înțeleagă ce e cu adevărat important pentru el și să-și regăsească echilibrul în viață.
Protagonistul conștientizează că oamenii din înalta societate sunt reci, lacomi și ipocriți, se folosesc unii pe alții și au o mentalitate total diferită. Joe simte că s-a îndepărtat de cine era cu adevărat. A pierdut ceea ce nu poți cumpăra - bucurie, liniște sufletească, relațiile în cadrul familiei au avut de suferit. Pe parcursul cărții încearcă să înțeleagă ce e cu adevărat important pentru el și să-și regăsească echilibrul în viață.
April 23, 2017
Definitely inferior to Room at the Top, but sort of fun to read to see what happens to Joe. It's very much a sequel: you won't really understand much of what's going on if you haven't read the first book. The plotting is pretty thin, not to mention a little predictable. So was the first book, but you could forgive the author because it was so well paced and well written. This book can't help but give you the feeling that it was written to pay the bills. More disappointingly, it seems at one point that the rather misogynistic attitudes of the first book will be overthrown, but this proves to be a false hope: the women generally turn out to be either cardboard cutouts or willing victims.
August 31, 2010
Hmmm.....i didn't liked this book from the beginning, but i do know that i loved it at the end. General, simple things about life, about marriage and kids... I think that one of the basic idea of this book is that money is really important for family happiness, even if nobody admits it. You can not go back to a simple and ugly life after you used to live at the top. :).....and i almost forgot : everyone is cheating and lying:)
November 28, 2010
This author has spentg a lot of time figuring out the character's psyche. It must have driven him insane. The first half of this book is rather dull - but I do enjoy dullness. Half way through things get a little crazy. The language is wonderfully non-chalant. For someone living in this day and age it is often hard to understand the society and sociel rules of the period the book is set in.
December 9, 2017
Тази книга я прочетох на един дъх през лятото на 2017 г. Тя е от поредицата "Забравените стари книга в личната ми библиотека". Напомни ми, че все пак е имало прекрасни сюжети с богат език и незабравим край и то за вечната тема Любов!
September 19, 2018
Not just a sequel to 'Room at the Top'. Ten years have gone by since the end of that novel and, although much of it is about Joe Lampton's increasingly frustrating professional and married life, it actually centres on his relationship with his remote son and affectionate daughter.
September 5, 2011
Continuing tale of an anti-hero....
November 19, 2017
A hearthening novel for married couples in heavy weather. I am happy to have read this book.
November 20, 2018
enjoyed the read. At times bogged down on the details of the business activity. Not a great lover of Joe Lampton's character.
August 31, 2020
After recently re-reading John Braine’s Room at the Top, I went On Chesil Beach, courtesy of Ian McEwan. Without doubt the latter is a masterpiece, whereas the former seems to be a little too reliant on its contemporary setting, its social mores, its finely tuned appreciation of social class to be considered more than “of its time”. Concatenating the two books, however, has made me think a little more about the underpinning thesis of Ian McEwan’s book, that the early 1960s remained an age when sexuality was not discussed, dealt with or even experienced in the more open, liberal manner of just a decade later. In the context of Ian McEwan’s setting and for his characters, this was undoubtedly the case. Memories of John Braine’s 1950s, however, remind me that there might have been room for a different reading.
And so I approached a re-discovery of Braine’s Life At The Top with more than just an interest in the narrative. Of course the book is a sequel, an attempt to recreate the success that had eluded its author in the intervening years. But it is based in the early 1960s, precisely the time when Ian McEwan’s fumbling lovers marry.
Life At The Top is ten years on from its germ. Joe Lampton and Susan are married and have two children. Joe is also firmly ensconced in his father-in-law’s firm, has made a moderate success of his career and, certainly relative to others around Warley, has plenty of money. But as those for whom success seems to be a given, it is necessary to be reminded that, “It’s one thing to get there, and quite another thing to stay there”. And so it is with Joe Lampton. He becomes a councilor – a Tory one at that – and all seems to be made. But then, but then… he’s still our Joe. He still likes his pint, though now it’s more likely to be a scotch, and perhaps Susan is still as naïve as she was a decade before – naïve, that is, until she decides what she wants.
So, obviously, in Life At The Top Joe and Susan’s life together turns sour, even a little bitter. But John Braine’s plot and style always keep the process above soap opera, where character only exists to fuel plot. In some ways, the pair of novels, Room and Life At The Top, is a loose allegory of the experience of the author, himself. In Room he’s an upstart successfully staking his claim, but at a cost in terms of pigeon-holing and confinement to a genre. In Life he’s a known success and is clawing on to its retention.
But after finishing the book two points stand out. The first is a reminder of the apparent sexual liberty enjoyed by its characters. Not only Joe, but also Susan and eventually Norah, not to mention the ailing Mark, are apparently free-loaders. Only Mark’s wife seems to possess the frigidity, perhaps aridity, that Ian McEwan seems to associate with the era. I can remember when Life At The Top was a much watched film. It was seen as racy, even a bit risqué, but not because of what it portrayed, only that it was portrayed. It wasn’t the content that shocked; it was the fact that the content was made public.
On the other hand, if John Braine’s mission had been purely to shock, then the ultimate morality of the outcome would be incongruous at best. Life At The Top is the kind of novel where what happens is crucial, so to reveal the finishing point would detract from the experience of reading the book. Suffice it to say that, in its own way, Life At The Top becomes an affirmation of a given set of values, even if those who want to live by them do not always live up to them.
So I return again to On Chesil Beach and conclude that there may be a greater element of social class – or even stereotype – involved in Ian McEwan’s reading of the mores of that age. A shortcoming it might be, but it detracts in no way whatsoever from the quality of the book. The imagined rules applied to those described, despite the fact that, as John Braine’s Life At The Top reminds us, they might not actually have been rules and certainly didn’t apply to everyone, especially the imagined.
https://philipspires.blogspot.com/200...
And so I approached a re-discovery of Braine’s Life At The Top with more than just an interest in the narrative. Of course the book is a sequel, an attempt to recreate the success that had eluded its author in the intervening years. But it is based in the early 1960s, precisely the time when Ian McEwan’s fumbling lovers marry.
Life At The Top is ten years on from its germ. Joe Lampton and Susan are married and have two children. Joe is also firmly ensconced in his father-in-law’s firm, has made a moderate success of his career and, certainly relative to others around Warley, has plenty of money. But as those for whom success seems to be a given, it is necessary to be reminded that, “It’s one thing to get there, and quite another thing to stay there”. And so it is with Joe Lampton. He becomes a councilor – a Tory one at that – and all seems to be made. But then, but then… he’s still our Joe. He still likes his pint, though now it’s more likely to be a scotch, and perhaps Susan is still as naïve as she was a decade before – naïve, that is, until she decides what she wants.
So, obviously, in Life At The Top Joe and Susan’s life together turns sour, even a little bitter. But John Braine’s plot and style always keep the process above soap opera, where character only exists to fuel plot. In some ways, the pair of novels, Room and Life At The Top, is a loose allegory of the experience of the author, himself. In Room he’s an upstart successfully staking his claim, but at a cost in terms of pigeon-holing and confinement to a genre. In Life he’s a known success and is clawing on to its retention.
But after finishing the book two points stand out. The first is a reminder of the apparent sexual liberty enjoyed by its characters. Not only Joe, but also Susan and eventually Norah, not to mention the ailing Mark, are apparently free-loaders. Only Mark’s wife seems to possess the frigidity, perhaps aridity, that Ian McEwan seems to associate with the era. I can remember when Life At The Top was a much watched film. It was seen as racy, even a bit risqué, but not because of what it portrayed, only that it was portrayed. It wasn’t the content that shocked; it was the fact that the content was made public.
On the other hand, if John Braine’s mission had been purely to shock, then the ultimate morality of the outcome would be incongruous at best. Life At The Top is the kind of novel where what happens is crucial, so to reveal the finishing point would detract from the experience of reading the book. Suffice it to say that, in its own way, Life At The Top becomes an affirmation of a given set of values, even if those who want to live by them do not always live up to them.
So I return again to On Chesil Beach and conclude that there may be a greater element of social class – or even stereotype – involved in Ian McEwan’s reading of the mores of that age. A shortcoming it might be, but it detracts in no way whatsoever from the quality of the book. The imagined rules applied to those described, despite the fact that, as John Braine’s Life At The Top reminds us, they might not actually have been rules and certainly didn’t apply to everyone, especially the imagined.
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June 2, 2019
'Life at the Top' is the sequel to 'Room at the Top' in which we met local Government official and social climber Joe Lampton as he courted Susan Brown, the daughter of a wealthy businessman, whilst he has an affair with an older married woman. In this book time has moved along ten years and on the surface Joe has got everything that he thought he wanted, an upper-class wife, a nice house, a sports car, two children, and an executive job with the biggest firm in town. Yet despite his material possessions, Joe’s life is empty. His boss is his father-in-law who treats him like a lackey, his wife is having an affair and even his son dislikes him.
When Joe falls in love with the pretty Norah Hauxley, his discontentment with the life that he has built for himself only deepens. When Norah moves to London Joe sees it as an opportunity to escape Warley and start a new life. But soon realises that this new promise of happiness is as illusory as what he left behind.
Written in 1962 this like the previous book is something of a social commentary and gives an interesting insight into a man having a mid-life (35) crisis. I actually enjoyed the author's writing style more in this book, Braine had obviously learnt from experience, but whilst in RatT I found Joe a difficult character to like in this book I simply found him annoying. I found him a whining pain in the backside and wanted to shout at him to 'man up'. That said and done I still felt that the book an interesting read which had it's merits even if it is a little dated, I was glad to be able to read what had become of Joe and Susan.
When Joe falls in love with the pretty Norah Hauxley, his discontentment with the life that he has built for himself only deepens. When Norah moves to London Joe sees it as an opportunity to escape Warley and start a new life. But soon realises that this new promise of happiness is as illusory as what he left behind.
Written in 1962 this like the previous book is something of a social commentary and gives an interesting insight into a man having a mid-life (35) crisis. I actually enjoyed the author's writing style more in this book, Braine had obviously learnt from experience, but whilst in RatT I found Joe a difficult character to like in this book I simply found him annoying. I found him a whining pain in the backside and wanted to shout at him to 'man up'. That said and done I still felt that the book an interesting read which had it's merits even if it is a little dated, I was glad to be able to read what had become of Joe and Susan.
March 11, 2024
First published in 1962, 'Life at the Top' is a sequel to 'Room at the Top' of 1957 and features the main character, ruthless immoral Joe Lampton, a northern social climber, who is finding life 10 years on from the events of the first novel not at all what he expected. My edition is the 1965 movie tie-in, and reads like the first novel as an excellent piece of exquisite period detail in a way that was not envisaged at the time of its original publication. Loved it.
December 30, 2022
This book was unreadable. In the end I skimmed through it but left out large chunks of it. It was distasteful to me. Joe Lampton was tolerable in the first book; in the sequel I found him quite repulsive and could not see any point in him at all. I saw the film which was better than the book itself. I haven't got time enough to waste on a book like this! Sorry!
August 9, 2023
Enjoyable sequel to Room at the Top. The main character, Joe Lampton chose money and a higher class over love and is now faced with the consequences. He does not feel loved at home (other than by his daughter) and not valued at work (by his father in law). I like the complexity of the characters and the setting in England, Northern England mostly, in the sixties.
February 24, 2020
I couldn't finish this the sexism was too much for me
May 16, 2022
Good to catch up with lampton again. Great stuff
Currently reading
October 12, 2022Nice 👍 book
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