Afternoon Men: A Novel

By Anthony Powell

Written from a vantage point both high and deliberately narrow, the early novels of the late British master Anthony Powell nevertheless deal in the universal themes that would become a substantial part of his oeuvre: pride, greed, and the strange drivers of human behavior.
More explorations of relationships and vanity than plot-driven narratives, Powell’s early works reveal the stirrings of the unequaled style, ear for dialogue, and eye for irony that would reach their caustic peak in his epic, A Dance to the Music of Time.

In Afternoon Men, the earliest and perhaps most acid of Powell’s novels, we meet the museum clerk William Atwater, a young man stymied in both his professional and romantic endeavors. Immersed in Atwater’s coterie of acquaintances—a similarly unsatisfied cast of rootless, cocktail-swilling London sophisticates—we learn of the conflict between his humdrum work life and louche social scene, of his unrequited love, and, during a trip to the country, of the absurd contrivances of proper manners.

A satire that verges on nihilism and a story touched with sexism and equal doses self-loathing and self-medication, AfternoonMen has a grim edge to it. But its dialogue sparks and its scenes grip, and for aficionados of Powell, this first installment in his literary canon will be a welcome window onto the mind of a great artist learning his craft.

• Language: English
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Release date: Nov 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9780226186924

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Reviews for Afternoon Men

[giovannigf · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Somewhere between the goofiness of Wodehouse and the sting of Waugh. It might just be literally impossible for humor to get any drier than in this novel.

[adzebill · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A charmingly bleak short novel where the comedy comes as much from what is not said or inferred. Also a useful portrait of museum life and the sad personalities it attracts.

[aarhusian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Stripped down, brutal satire. First published in 1931, the novel lays bare the pretence of intellectual cum bohemian life in interwar Britain. The dialogue is lean, even minimalist, as if the English leisure class had run out of nice things to say. A sample:"How was he?" "He seemed fairly well when I left.""I expect he'll kill himself one of these days," said Mr Nunnery. "He looks as if he would.""Yes, I expect he will."

[jon1lambert · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I must have read this for the first time in 1979. All sorts of paperback Anthony Powell books were being issued then with great cover illustrations by Marc. I enjoyed the work then, especially the character Atwater, bored and lazy with his colleague Nosworth in their museum jobs, a drifter or a superfluous man. Having re-read it in between the same but now somewhat yellowed and foxed covers I enjoyed it even more. The dialogue is superb as the characters move from one party to the other in seemingly meaningless and selfish lives. Suddenly a case of unrequited love hits Atwater while the angry Pringle contemplates suicide. The elusive Susan Nunnery is the star in her absence - how can she cast such a spell on Atwater? It is unrequited love spot on. Then there is the over ambitious Fotheringham. We've all met one of these. Truly superb.