Behind Closed (Faculty) Doors

If you're a fan of dark comedy set in the rarified world of academia, you've probably already read these books. This delightfully sharp, tongue-in-cheek genre is one of my favorites, and if you haven't explored it yet, I encourage you to try one of the following titles:

Lucky Jim, by Kingsley Amis

This was Amis' first novel, published in 1954, and I consider it to be the granddaddy of the genre. Lucky Jim isn't so lucky -- he's on the verge of losing his junior teaching position at a second rate college in rural England, and in order to save his job, he's going to have to lick up to his odious boss, Neddy Welch, a pompous ass who insists that Jim deliver a prestigious lecture based on Neddy's pet manuscript-- a hackneyed discourse on "Merrie England." One humiliation is piled upon another as Jim is forced to join in parlor sing-ins of esoteric madrigals, stroke Neddy's ego, and ingratiate himself to Neddy's son Bertrand, a pretentious (and awful) novelist who just happens to be dating the woman of Jim's dreams. Irreverent, angry, and anti-Etonian, Jim is delightful as he deflates the rarified heights of one of England's not-so-ivory towers.

The Headmaster's Dilemma, by Louis Auchincloss

This recent novel (2007) tells the story of Michael Sayre, the handsome, avant-garde headmaster of Averhill, a prestigious New England prep school, as he is faced with a school administrator's worst nightmare: a lawsuit brought by a hysterical society matron in response to a consensual sexual incident involving her son and an upperclassman. To make matters worse, Michael is losing the support of both the board of trustees -- led by the conniving Donald Spencer -- and certain senior faculty members who are resistant to "modern sensibilities." With the help of his wife, Michael attempts to right these wrongs while keeping Averhill's best interests in mind.

This novel is classic Auchincloss. He casts a scathing eye on all of his characters -- no one is spared. The "victimized" boy is a calculating worm, his "oppressor" is a lout, the boy's mother is a self-righteous old bat who flouts her moral sensibilities, the boy's father is a "man of leisure" who married his wife for her money and finds the entire prep school incident to be mildly amusing, and even Michael, the "innocent man" who is caught in the middle, is a bit too perfect for his own good -- it's nice to see him squirm. Throw in Michael's wife, a woman who isn't averse to using her sexual wiles to promote Michael's rise (and therefore, her own) in the world, and add Michael's arch enemy, a one-time friend who can't forgive Michael for being so successful, and you've got quite a crew. This novel is wickedly funny from start to finish.

Truth and Consequences, by Alison Lurie

Alan and Jane Mackenzie are a "trophy couple." He's an established professor at Corinth College, she's the administrator there, and their genteel, old-money house and garden are the envy of the faculty. Then a back ailment strikes Alan, and their relationship begins to unravel. Jane resents the fact that her virile "professor on campus" has morphed into a whining invalid, and Alan resents her resentment. Enter the famous and self-absorbed poetess Delia Delaney (the name really says it all), an overripe, pre-Raphaelite beauty who drapes herself in ethnic jewelry and clouds of diaphanous gypsy wear, and chaos predictably ensues.

Delia, who has a narcissistic penchant for sudden "migraines," begins to exchange details of her malady with Alan, who reciprocates with the empathy of a fellow sufferer. It's only a matter of time before Alan's office couch serves a new function (sprained back be damned). In the meantime, Delia's live-in boyfriend, a younger man who Alan scornfully discounts as a lay-about lapdog, begins trading "caregiver" tales with Jane over a cup of coffee at the local latte shop . . . If you're already smiling, this book is for you.

(If you enjoy this book, you'll also like Lurie's Pulitzer Prize winning book, "Foreign Affairs.")

Straight Man, by Richard Russo

Russo is best known for his rust belt sagas depicting the life of blue collar workers (prime example: Empire Falls, winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize), but this novel, set in the Pennsylvania rust belt, focuses upon the tragicomic tribulations of William Henry Devereaux, Jr. ("Hank"), a fiftyish creative writing professor who reluctantly chairs a university English department that is facing legislative cuts to an already paltry budget.

The flyleaf of the novel captures the gist of Hank's tale: "Over the course of a single convoluted weekend, he threatens to execute a goose, has his nose slashed by a feminist poet, discovers that his secretary writes better fiction than he does, suspects his wife of having an affair with his dean, and finally confronts his philandering father, the one-time king of American Literary Theory, at an amusement park."

Faculty infighting, academic puffery, and a possible fling with a young coed (is she flirting with Hank by sending him peach pits ripe with erotic symbolism?) add to the fun. You can tell that Russo loves his main character, however -- the author's big-hearted treatment of Hank invites you to feel Hank's pain even as you laugh at his personal and professional peccadilloes.

On Beauty, by Zadie Smith

Admittedly, this book should not be categorized as an academic comedy -- Zadie Smith's novel is basically a masterful exposition of the divisiveness of the culture wars, and an examination of the blessings and trials of family relationships. Nonetheless, the book is steeped in an academic setting (Wellington, a fictional New England university) that provides plenty of fodder for lovers of the genre.

When Monty Kipps, a right-wing academic, is invited to become a visiting professor at the liberal Wellington campus, he is destined to come to philosophical blows with fellow professor Howard Belsey, a transplanted Englishman who despises Kipps' conservative views and resents his academic fame. Fireworks ensue. Although the novel is not primarily comedic, some of the passages are brilliantly witty. The author's send up of Wellington's male glee club left me rolling on the floor.

I'd love to hear from other readers who could add more titles to this list of books -- I've already stumbled upon an additional book in this genre that I can't wait to read: "Blue Angel," by Francine Prose.