David Lodge, whose latest novel A Man of Parts, a fictionalized account of H.G. Wells's life and career, releases in the U.S. in September, named a top ten list of Wells's novels for the Guardian, including:
Read about another novel on the list.Kipps (1905)
Arthur Kipps is a down-trodden apprentice in a drapery store (as Wells himself was) who unexpectedly inherits a fortune that enables him to live the life of a gentleman. But without education and the talents possessed by his creator he is exploited and humiliated by his new bourgeois associates. The novel combines rich comedy and biting social criticism with Dickensian verve.
Kipps also figures among Lodge's five best books about social class.
--Marshal Zeringue
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