You Can't Do Both, by Kingsley Amis (Flamingo £5.99 in UK)

Hyped by Flamingo as "a precursor to Lucky Jim" (obviously they don't know the meaning of the word precursor), this is a typically Amis Snr cynical, knowing, often caricatured, 1950s time warped yarn about English class snobbery and misogyny starring Robin, an indulged young fellow whose major objective is having as much sex as possible without having to "settle down to bloody old monogamy". Luckily for him, his father is a pathetic old snob while Robin's long suffering girlfriend is pitiable enough to apologise for becoming pregnant. The prose is predictably lazy and careless. As for the stagey dialogue, it leaves one wondering if the author ever did bother listening to real life conversation.