The British Museum Is Falling Down

Nov 13, 2025 7:32 PM

Author:David Lodge

The British Museum is Falling Down is a brilliant comic satire of academia, religion and human entanglements. First published in 1965, it tells the story of hapless, scooter-riding young research student Adam Appleby, who is trying to write his thesis but is constantly distracted - not least by the fact that, as Catholics in the 1960s, he and his wife must rely on 'Vatican roulette' to avoid a fourth child.

Reviews

Brilliantly funny

—— Guardian

A comic tour de force...the hapless Appleby remains one of his most keenly observed characters

—— Observer

A Trick I Learned From Dead Men is a wonderful book, written with a mixture of pathos and bleak humour that brings to mind classic television comedies such as The Office... Lee’s narration seems beautifully true: it is stop-start, cliché ridden, and marked by that peculiarly British tendency to point out the stray cloud in an otherwise spotless sky

—— Financial Times

Pitch-perfect ... blackly funny, moving

—— Independent

Aldridge beautifully captures Lee’s thought patterns... Her research is impeccable, and the quirky portrait of funeral home routine will appeal to fans of the TV series Six Feet Under

—— Daily Mail

Aldridge is a skilled observer and the novel is full of detailed, sometimes strangely beautiful descriptions... Aldridge shows her eye for detail: there is joy to be found in the mundanities of day-to-day life

—— Times Literary Supplement

Immensely powerful

—— Independent on Sunday

A wonderfully funny, original novel ... joyous and life-affirming

—— Guardian

This small but perfectly formed third novel from Kitty Aldridge is over too soon but is impressively accomplished, nailing the distinctive voice of its protagonist… Inventive coming-of-age tale

—— Metro

Kitty Aldridge’s latest novel mixes pathos and bathos in industrial quantities…he [Lee Hart] is an immensely likeable protagonist and Aldridge has absolutely captured his engagingly open inner voice

—— Scotland on Sunday

An uplifting tale of life after death. Dead good

—— Time Out

Wonderful… I am completely convinced by Lee and drawn along with his narrative voice which Kitty Aldridge has pitched to perfection… Kitty has taken a taboo subject and achieved that fine balance, writing engagingly and openly, and with great sensitivity and humour about something most of us just don't like to think or talk about

—— Dove Grey Reader

Aldridge’s writing is a rare find: startlingly original without being showy, skilfully crafted but not selfconsciously literary, a genuine, honest voice… Harrowing and hilarious, profound but unpretentious, this book conjures up a compelling world and an eminently likeable protagonist. For all the dead bodies and thwarted lives, it is surprisingly uplifting

—— Juanita Coulson , The Lady

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