Jill with delivery to Ireland

Philip Larkin's debut novel tells the story of a young man trying to find his place in the world. John Kemp arrives in Oxford from the provinces and quickly discovers that knowledge alone is not enough to become part of the circle he would like to belong to. Surrounded by students who are more self-assured, wealthier and better prepared for life, he feels increasingly like an outsider. Rather than drawing closer to others, he creates a world of his own, inhabited by imaginings, dreams and fictions. Written during the war, Jill introduces the first important themes of the author's later work: loneliness, social divisions and a life lived more in dreams than in reality. It is a poignant portrait of youth in which the imagination proves to be the only refuge from a sense of alienation.