title: Girl, 20 (New York Review Books Classics)
author:  Kingsley Amis 
description: <i></i>As always, Amiss aim at the modern world, not to mention eternal human foibles, is dead on. <i>Los Angeles Times</i><br /><br />After the early splash with <i>Lucky Jim</i>, Kingsleys books got better and better, until a peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when he published <i>The Green Man</i>; <i>Girl, 20</i> (my favorite); and <i>Ending Up</i>. Geoffrey Wheatcroft<i>, The Atlantic Monthly<br /></i><br />In <i>Girl, 20</i> the character of whom Amis most disapproves politically is also made irresistibly charming, whilethis is a really brilliant knights movethe activity on which Amis himself had expended the most time (adultery) is shown by the actions of this very charmer as destructive to all parties.Christopher Hitchens<br /><br />For satiric ends the cast of characters has been adroitly shaped to expose a sort of <i>folie  deux </i>in which youth and an aging misleader of youth contribute equally to the mischief. <i>The New York Times</i><br /> <i></i><br /> I never found <i>Lucky Jim</i>which launched Kingsley Amisall that funny, but <i>Girl, 20 </i>is. Its one of those deft comedies the British seem to specialize ina story that makes us laugh without being outrageous, manic, obscene, anti-patriotic or ethnic. It satirizes society without trying to bring it crashing down around our ears. It does not smear the Absurd like catchup on everything in sight. There is no gimmicky situation to set you thinking of Alan Arkin or Woody Allen. Its effects are derived mostly from its characters, who are all recognizable contemporary types. Their actions are funny not because they are inconsistentthe famous non sequitur syndrome invented by American witsbut because they are not, because these people keep plugging away, with varying degrees of ingenuity and success, at the peculiar, but not unusual stratagems for getting what they want.... Sir Roy is a first-class character, possibly Amiss best. Anatole Broyard, <i>The New York Times</i><br /> <i></i><br /> In his rollicking novel about the absurdities of the Sixties, <i>Girl, 20</i>, Kingsley Amis created a character who responded to each outbreak of pseudery with a phrase that he loathed. School of Thought! he would exclaim; or Christian Gentleman!  <i>The Daily Telegraph</i><br /> <i></i><br /> In this book Sir Roy Vandervane at 54 embodies the best of the past, in that he is a talented symphonic conductor, good violinist, knowledgeable composer. He is also selling out to the future and the present, as represented by his long hair, his rich mans radical chic, permissiveness, with-it views on everything including rock music, and above all a bird named Sylvia who is just one-third as old as Roy.... This precocious little horror is a successful creature, one of those arrogant bullies of spontaneity who will imply that you are fascist if you make unhip remarks like what time is it or where are we going? Amis scores such precise hints as having Sir Roy guess wrong about what Sylvia would like to do, itself such a substantial proportion of her total outlook upon the world. Robert Pinsky, <i>Los Angeles Times</i><br /> <br /> His novels of the late 1960s and early 1970s, which was in many ways his most confident and interesting period, include two powerfully expressive, minatory masterpieces in <i>Ending Up</i> and <i>Girl, 20</i>. Philip Hensher, <i>The Spectator</i>
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  # The Chateau
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Arabella Kingsley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Lost Girl Publishing
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Published by Lost Girl Publishing
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ©2020
  
  
  All rights reserved.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  No part of the book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
  means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
  information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from
  the publisher.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Arabella Kingsley
  
  
  Lost Girl Publishing
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  eBook ISBN: 978-1-64563-654-0
  
  
  v1
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Cover Art by ABCD Graphics & Design
  
  
  This book contains fantasy themes appropriate for mature readers only. Nothing
  in this book should be interpreted as Blushing Books' or the author's
  advocating any non-consensual sexual activity.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Contents
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 1](part0003.html#2RHM0-6275a1e904ae4e01a001003cdf9f37e8)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 2](part0004.html#3Q280-6275a1e904ae4e01a0010