Room At The Top
John Braine
Available as Downloadable audio
A riveting portrait of ambition and class tension read by Kevin Whateley
Braine’s first and most successful novel of working-class ‘angst’ and the struggle of ‘angry young man’ Joe Lampton. Anxious to climb the social ladder by whatever means possible in post-war Britain, he is determined to make something of himself, targeting a high-paid job. He notices a young man with an expensive car and a pretty girlfriend and realises that this lifestyle and appearance is what he aspires to. The book centres on Joe’s efforts to secure a future he can take pride in, but disaster and remorse are never far away either.
This 20th century classic has also been filmed and made into a TV series. The reader Kevin Whateley is a great British talent, affectionately known for his role as ‘Lewis’, who appeared first in Morse.
John Braine
John Braine was an English novelist born in Yorkshire, usually associated with the ‘Angry Young Men’ movement. His 1986 novel The Crying Game set in London captured some of the later atmosphere of the swinging Sixties.