Small World by David Lodge

In Small World, David Lodge turns academic life into a witty, globe-trotting comedy filled with ambition, romance and rivalry. Professors Philip Swallow and Morris Zapp return alongside the young scholar Persse McGarrigle and the captivating Angelica, as an international circuit of conferences sends academics flying from one glamorous destination to another.

Lecture halls give way to airports, hotels and exotic locations as careers, reputations and romantic hopes become tangled together. Persse, meanwhile, becomes determined to find Angelica, following her across countries and conferences in a pursuit that is as comic as it is romantic.

Lodge pokes fun at academic competition, literary theory, professional ambition and the social world surrounding universities, while keeping the story lively and entertaining.

A smart, humorous novel for readers who enjoy literary satire, campus fiction, comedy and character-driven stories about love, ambition and the sometimes absurd world of academia.

Paperback, Very Good