Life at the Top Life at the Top Life At The Top is the third novel by the English author John Braine, first published in the UK by Eyre & Spottiswoode and in the US by Houghton Mifflin & Co. in 1962. It continues the story of the life and difficulties of Joe Lampton, an ambitious young man of humble origins. A 1965 film adaptation of the novel was made starring Laurence Harvey. In September 2012, BBC television finally broadcast a two-part television adaptation of "Room at the Top" that had been delayed because of copyright difficulties. Matthew McNulty was in the lead role.
John Braine small town five miles up the Aire Valley . Although he wrote 12 works of fiction, Braine is chiefly remembered today for his first novel, "Room at the Top" (1957). The novel was conceived when he was being treated for tuberculosis in a hospital near the Yorkshire Dales town of Grassington. He stated that his favourite author was Guy de Maupassant and that "Room at the Top" was based on "Bel Ami", but that "the critics didn't pick it up". "Room at the Top" was turned into a successful 1959 film, with Laurence Harvey as Joe Lampton and featuring an