How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
What would she be wearing this evening? He could just about bring himself to praise anything but the green Paisley frock in combination with the low-heeled, quasi-velvet shoes. (1.18)
Unfortunately, we learn pretty early in the book that Jim likes to judge people by their looks. This is especially a shame when it comes to Margaret, Jim's sort-of girlfriend, who has a talent for always wearing whatever clothes Jim finds most unattractive on her. The quasi-velvet shoes suggest that Margaret's a wanna-be, like you'd be if you were wearing Jimmy Choo knockoffs.
Quote #2
But whatever the subject for discussion might be, Dixon knew that before the journey ended he'd find his face becoming creased and flabby, like an old bag, with the strain of making it smile and show interest and speak its few permitted words. (1.33)
Jim Dixon knows that the world is all about appearances, not just for other people, but for himself too. That's why he always makes sure to look interested while Professor Welch (his boss) goes on and on about boring stuff. The strain can be hard on Jim's face at times, but he's willing to play the part if it means getting a job.
Quote #3
As if searching for a text he examined her face, noting the tufts of brown hair that over-hung the ear-pieces of her glasses, the crease running up the near cheek and approaching closer than before to the eye-socket […] there was nothing there of conversational aliment. (2.14)
Whenever he doesn't know what to say to Margaret, Jim searches her face, as though it might make him think about something to talk about. Unfortunately, Margaret has pretty plain features, and nothing in them ever gives Jim much inspiration.
Quote #4
An irregular knocking on the door […] was at once followed by the bursting-open of this door and the entry of a tall man wearing a lemon-yellow sports coat, all three buttons of which were fastened, and displaying a large beard which came down further on one side the on the other, half hiding a vine-patterned tie. (4.12)
So this big dude walks in wearing a big yellow coat that's buttoned all the way up. It's Bertrand Welch, and Amis shows us from his outfit and his build that he likes to be the center of attention.
Quote #5
The huge class that contained Margaret was destined to provide his own womenfolk: those in whom the intention of being attractive could sometimes be made to get itself confused with performance; those with whom a too-tight skirt, a wrong-coloured, or no, lipstick, even an ill-secured smile could instantly discredit that illusion beyond any apparent hope of renewal. (4.13)
Jim has a pretty good handle on the "type" of women who are in the same league as him. It's women like Margaret, who aren't really all that attractive, but who are close enough to try and look the part. For Jim, though, these performances are sad, since there's no hiding unattractiveness, and the attempt to do so comes across as pathetic.
Quote #6
"Do you know what you look like in that beard?" (4.47)
It might seem kind of childish, but Jim figures that the best way to hurt a person's feelings is to call them ugly. He does it in a way that tells Bertrand that he knows the beard is an affectation.
Quote #7
It was surely wrong to dress, and to behave most of the time, in a way that was so un-prim when you were really so proper all of the time. (7.31)
Jim's objecting here to Margaret's "arty get-up," another sign of what he sees as posturing. This is another of Jim's rules: you shouldn't dress just to make an impression. You can tell who the good guys are in the book because they don't do this.
Quote #8
His evening suit, too, was not as spectacularly "faultless" as might have been predicted. His large, smooth face, surmounting a short, thin body, was the least symmetrical, short of actual deformity, that Dixon had ever seen, giving him the look of a drunken sage trying to collect his wits, a look intensified by slightly protruding lips and a single black eyebrow running from temple to temple. (10.15)
Here's the exception we promised. What to make of this description of the wealthy Gore-Urquhart? It's as vivid and detailed a description as we've seen in the book, and makes him out to be an ugly, almost deformed, man. What's interesting is that Amis/Jim doesn't say this makes him look like a monster or a fool—only a drunken sage. That's not too bad, right? Why does Uncle G-U escape Jim's tendency to think the worst about homely people?
Quote #9
One of them was clearly the effeminate writing Michel, on stage at last just as the curtain was about to ring down. He was a tall pale young man with long pale hair protruding from under a pale corduroy cap. (25.63)
Notice the repetitive use of "pale"? (We knew you would.) It emphasizes Michel's pasty look but also suggests that he, like the rest of the family, doesn't have much substance as a person. He's barely there. The use of the term "on stage" adds to the impression of the Welches as all overly concerned with appearances.