Jake's Thing

Jake's Thing is a satirical novel written by Kingsley Amis, first published in 1978 by Hutchinson, and shortlisted for the Booker Prize that year.

The novel follows the life of Jacques 'Jake' Richardson, a fifty-nine-year-old Oxford don who struggles to overcome the loss of his 'libido'. The book employs characteristic Amis wit and cutting social commentary such as Jake's comment that "the food wasn't much good and they were rather nasty to you, but then it cost quite a lot". It was written during Amis's rapidly souring marriage with Elizabeth Jane Howard, and as such, it contains much prejudice against women, even more bitter than in earlier novels. Other targets of Amis's brutal and cutting satire include transport and housing, doctors, modern psychology and the education system. Jake himself is satirised, as Amis steps back from his main protagonist and portrays a sad, grumpy old man, out of touch with his world, unable to function in social situations, paralysed by his prejudices. The novel ends with Jake discovering his loss of libido was a physical issue, but he shows how he has given up on life, when he refuses the prescription which would treat his problems.