Room at the Top (novel) Room at the Top (novel) Room at the Top is a novel by John Braine, first published in the United Kingdom by Eyre & Spottiswoode in 1957, about the rise of an ambitious young man of humble origin, and the socio-economic struggles undergone in realising his social ambitions in post-war Britain. A film adaptation was made in 1959, followed in 2012 by a TV film. John Minton's cover art from the first edition was restored and used on the new edition by Valancourt Books in 2013. Joe Lampton, demobilised at the end of the Second World War, is starting in
Room at the Top (novel) his battle for the girl's affections; people are becoming aware of the relationship with Alice, and exposure threatens his future (it would force him to leave town), so Joe is not averse when Susan's father insists on their immediate marriage, sweetening the offer with a "thousand a year " job, on condition that he drop Alice for good. Alice, distraught at the break-up, is found severely injured after a drunken car crash near where she and Joe first consummated their love, and dies shortly afterwards. "Room at the Top" concludes with Joe drunkenly attempting to cope with remorse over Alice’s