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'Lucky Jim' By Kingsley Amis Trivia Quiz

A few questions on Kingsley Amis's first and possibly funniest novel.

A multiple-choice quiz by TabbyTom. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
TabbyTom

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
70,224

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
422

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. What is Jim's surname? Hint

Nixon

Robertson

Jackson

Dixon

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Question 2 of 10

2. Jim teaches history in a university. What is the surname of the professor who is the head of his department? Hint

Willis

Walsh

Welch

Wills

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Question 3 of 10

3. The professor has two sons. One is a painter: the other, not seen till the end of the novel, is a writer. What are their first names? Hint

Bertram and Michael

Bertrand and Michel

Bernard and Marcel

Bartholomew and Miles

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Question 4 of 10

4. Who is Catchpole? Hint

Margaret Peel's ex-boyfriend

One of Jim's students

The vice-chancellor of the university

The local mayor

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Question 5 of 10

5. What is the name of the editor to whom Jim submits his article on 'The Economic Influence of the Developments in Shipbuilding Techniques, 1450 to 1485'? Hint

A. S. Paton

W. S. Cato

C. S. Layton

L. S. Caton

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Question 6 of 10

6. What is the name of the girl whom Jim successfully woos away from the professor's son? Hint

Cynthia Calloway

Caroline Cavendish

Christine Callaghan

Catherine Cookson

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Question 7 of 10

7. What is the subject (chosen by the professor) of the lecture which Jim delivers at the end-of-term College Open Week?

Answer: (Two Words - M***** E******)

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Question 8 of 10

8. Jim is sacked from the university after the fiasco of his lecture, but he is immediately offered another job. Where? Hint

On the staff of a satirical journal

At Oxford

In Julius Gore-Urquhart's office

On a TV comedy show

9. The novel ends with Jim on the way to the station with his girl to catch the London train. Outside a tea-shop they see the professor's family. Why does Jim burst out laughing at the professor and his son? Hint

They can't get their car started

They're drunk

They're wearing each other's hats

They're spattered with bolognese sauce after a meal of spaghetti

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Question 10 of 10

10. Who played Jim in the Boulting Brothers' 1957 film of 'Lucky Jim'? Hint

Terry-Thomas

Ian Carmichael

Peter Sellers

Dennis Price

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Most Recent Scores

Oct 21 2024 : Guest 103: 8/10
Oct 17 2024 : Guest 106: 8/10

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. What is Jim's surname?

Answer: Dixon

Some people say that the character of Jim Dixon is based on Philip Larkin. This was probably Amis's original intention. In his memoirs Amis says 'For a short time, I was to tell his (i.e. Larkin's) story. ... As it turned out, Dixon resembles Larkin in not the smallest particular.' The name Dixon is however taken from Dixon Drive, a street in Leicester where Larkin lodged.

2. Jim teaches history in a university. What is the surname of the professor who is the head of his department?

Answer: Welch

In a radio interview in 1979, Amis disclosed that the character of Welch was based on Leonard Bardwell, the father of Amis's first wife. Bardwell was fond of folk-dancing: Welch plays the recorder and performs madrigals.

3. The professor has two sons. One is a painter: the other, not seen till the end of the novel, is a writer. What are their first names?

Answer: Bertrand and Michel

At one point we're told that Jim would like to "beat Welch about the head and shoulders with a bottle until he disclosed why, without being French himself, he'd given his sons French names."

4. Who is Catchpole?

Answer: Margaret Peel's ex-boyfriend

Jim meets Catchpole shortly before the end of the novel, and learns just how manipulative Margaret has been.

5. What is the name of the editor to whom Jim submits his article on 'The Economic Influence of the Developments in Shipbuilding Techniques, 1450 to 1485'?

Answer: L. S. Caton

Reginald Ashley Caton was the publisher of Amis's first book of poetry, 'Bright November'. Like his namesake in 'Lucky Jim', he was dilatory and difficult to contact. Amis gave him the initials L. S. (for 'Lazy Sod'), and put him in unflattering minor roles in his early novels, killing him off in 'The Anti-Death league'.

6. What is the name of the girl whom Jim successfully woos away from the professor's son?

Answer: Christine Callaghan

The two men come to blows, and Jim has to deliver his end-of-term lecture with a black eye.

7. What is the subject (chosen by the professor) of the lecture which Jim delivers at the end-of-term College Open Week?

Answer: Merrie England

The subject is of course suggested - or rather prescribed - by Welch.

8. Jim is sacked from the university after the fiasco of his lecture, but he is immediately offered another job. Where?

Answer: In Julius Gore-Urquhart's office

'I think you'll do the job all right,' says Gore-Urquhart (Christine Callaghan's uncle) to Dixon. 'It's not that you've got the qualifications ... but there are plenty who have. You haven't got the disqualifications, though, and that's much rarer.'

Answer: They're wearing each other's hats

'In this guise, and standing rigid with popping eyes, as they both were, they had a look of being Gide and Lytton Strachey, represented in waxwork form by a prentice hand.'

10. Who played Jim in the Boulting Brothers' 1957 film of 'Lucky Jim'?

Answer: Ian Carmichael

Terry-Thomas played Bertrand.

Source: Author TabbyTom

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