Life at the Top

When we left Joe Lampton, at the end of John Braine's novel Room at the Top, he had clawed his way to the high life by marrying the boss's daughter. Ten years later, in Life at the Top, he has two children, is still working for the odious father-in-law, is still dissatisfied, and continues to have trouble keeping his zipper up. There is a soap opera quality to parts of this novel; Graham Greene would have called it an "entertainment" (and done it better). But it must be admitted that Braine's prose is congenial and his scenes at their best have a vivid, cinematic quality.