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a nearby town where he gets drunk and has sex with a woman he meets in a pub. He collapses in the street, and he eventually is found by two friends from the dramatic society who have been looking for him. He tells them that he killed Alice, and they assure him that no one blames him for her death. He replies that that is the trouble.
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homes of Jack and Susan and laughs at himself for thinking that he could ever marry Susan. After rehearsing a play at the theatre, Alice and Joe drive to
Sparrow Hill, overlooking Warley, where Alice seduces him. Alice asks Joe not to fall in love with her, but suggests they should become "loving friends".
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Joe becomes frustrated by Susan's refusal to have sex with him, and he is discouraged by her parents' attempts to separate them. He reconciles with Alice, and they resume their sexual relationship. Susan finds out about the relationship and breaks with Joe, who is relieved that he can now concentrate
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While meeting at the flat, Alice mentions that she once modelled nude for an artist, and Joe berates her for demeaning herself. They have a heated argument during which she calls him a prude with a provincial mind. They agree to end their relationship. Soon afterward, Joe unexpectedly meets Susan and
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In Warley, he lodges with the
Thompsons, who live in the most affluent part of town, known locally as "T'top". The Thompsons introduce him to the local amateur dramatic society and there he meets Susan Brown, the 19-year-old daughter of a successful local businessman. He also meets Alice Aisgill, who
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Joe meets Alice at her friend's flat and tells her that he is engaged to Susan and that their relationship is over. After Joe leaves, Alice gets drunk and drives toward
Sparrow Hill. She crashes into a wall at high speed, and she is killed. Joe hears of her death the following day and takes a bus to
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Two months later, Joe still hasn't spoken with Alice. Susan's father invites Joe to lunch at his club and tells him that Susan is pregnant. He tells Joe that he can marry Susan with his consent on condition that he immediately break with Alice. He also offers Joe a job in his business with a salary
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Joe and Alice take a holiday in Dorset where they profess their love for each other and plan to marry after Alice arranges a divorce. A few days later, Joe's friend
Charles tells him that marrying Alice would ruin his life because she doesn't have money of her own and the scandal of a divorce would
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Joe continues to date Susan while Jack is studying at
Cambridge. Joe also pursues his sexual relationship with Alice, regularly meeting her at the flat of one of her friends. Returning to Dufton for Christmas, Joe tells his aunt that he is in love with Susan, but she warns him that Susan will break
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Joe is attracted to Susan and invites her out to the ballet, even though she is ostensibly the girlfriend of Jack Wales, a rich former RAF officer with a distinguished war record. Susan accepts the invitation and they have an enjoyable evening. Afterwards, Joe drives past the large and expensive
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Susan is delighted by the letter and meets Joe at a secluded location near Warley. She demands that he immediately write to Alice breaking off their relationship. Joe refuses because Alice is recovering from major surgery and he wants to tell her in person after she leaves hospital. After an
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a party, and they agree to meet the following day. At the latter meeting they profess their love for each other, but Joe thinks of his triumph over Jack and the prospect of forcing Susan's father to give him a good job. He also thinks of his need for Alice.
154:, using this time to study accountancy. Joe has been living with his aunt and uncle because his parents were killed by a stray bomb during the war. He is determined to make something of himself, and dreams of a job paying £1,000 a year.
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destroy his career. He also says Alice is too accustomed to a rich lifestyle and would leave him. Charles helps Joe write a letter to Susan, reaffirming his love for her and promising to break with Alice.
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in 1957, about an ambitious young working-class man who juggles sexual relationships with two middle-class women in a northern town in post-war
England.
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is nine years his senior, childless, and unhappily married to a businessman who is rumoured to be having an affair with his secretary.
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at the end of the Second World War, is starting in a new job as an accountant with the
Municipal Treasury in the Yorkshire
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argument, Susan submits to Joe's violent sexual advances, telling him afterwards "You won't need her anymore, will you?"
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of Warley. He is 25 years old and of working-class background from the industrial town of Dufton. He was in the
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his heart and he should find a woman of his own social class.
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244:, a 1970 TV series featuring Joe Lampton in later life
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305:"TV review: Room at the Top; Doomsday Preppers"
202:of the same name was made in 1958, directed by
174:his physical and emotional energies on Alice.
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763:British novels adapted into television shows
126:, first published in the United Kingdom by
644:The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner
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218:as Susan. In 2012, the BBC screened a
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303:Dowling, Tim (26 September 2012).
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753:British novels adapted into films
679:Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
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150:but spent most of the war as a
420:The Queen of a Distant Country
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89:Print (hardback and paperback)
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758:Eyre & Spottiswoode books
262:Bound books – a set on Flickr
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16:1957 novel by John Braine
616:The Divine and the Decay
274:"Room at the Top (1958)"
128:Eyre & Spottiswoode
72:Eyre & Spottiswoode
278:British Film Institute
220:two-part TV adaptation
768:Novels by John Braine
722:Kitchen sink realism
623:Emergence from Chaos
194:Dramatic adaptations
186:of £1,000 per year.
748:1957 British novels
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700:This Sporting Life
651:Look Back in Anger
436:Waiting for Sheila
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637:A Kind of Loving
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388:Life at the Top
372:Room at the Top
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284:on 7 March 2016
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312:. Retrieved
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609:Declaration
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515:Edward Bond
357:John Braine
314:19 November
288:19 November
144:market town
140:demobilised
124:John Braine
53:John Minton
43:John Braine
742:Categories
602:Billy Liar
505:John Arden
490:Associated
249:References
198:A British
658:Lucky Jim
594:Key works
570:John Wain
67:Published
380:The Vodi
226:See also
134:Synopsis
110:59499921
59:Language
710:Related
492:writers
62:English
439:(1976)
431:(1975)
423:(1972)
415:(1970)
407:(1968)
399:(1964)
391:(1962)
383:(1959)
375:(1957)
364:Novels
97:256 pp
39:Author
686:Saved
94:Pages
70:1957
316:2022
290:2022
104:OCLC
152:POW
148:RAF
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
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