Nice Work Summary

How does one launch upon a voyage of discovery about another person’s life? For Vic Wilcox,
that journey begins with the slowly dawning revelation that a house with four toilet and car with
a license plate bearing letters or numbers that you chose yourself just doesn’t cut. At 45, Vic’s
voyage of discovery may actually begin with the revelation that his wife no longer does it for
him, either. Which would perhaps not be quite so bad if passion had been supplanted by
conversation. When you don’t enjoy either looking at or hearing your wife, four toilets come
more to seem a symbol of failure than success.

January in the year the government has officially declared to be the year of Industry: 1986. In
order to their small part in making sure the year lives up to its name, Rummidge University has
asked Robyn Penrose to assist in closing the chasm that seems a natural boundary between the
world of commerce and the world of academics. On the other side of that chasm sits engineering
industry manage named Vic Wilcox.
The first meeting does not go particularly well, but unable to stop the forces that have mandated
he allow the decade-younger Robyn to “shadow” Vic as he goes about the business of
management they eventually develop a growing friendship. As the shadow follows along on
Vic’s business trip to Germany, the friendship turns into something much more. For Vic,
Frankfurt changes everything because he’s never cheated on his wife before and the flush of
passion has him excited over the possibility of getting out of his nowhere marriage and entering
into a brand new relationship with Robyn.

Robyn doesn’t view the Frankfurt connection in quite the same terms. The concept of spending
the rest of her life with Vic never really entered into picture and now this personal chasm is
creating tension as Vic has managed to convince those in charge that a reverse shadowing in
which he gets a firmer understanding the world of academia would be entirely within the
interests of the Industry Year strategy. As a result, whatever is required of Robyn in her position
at Rummidge now includes a hopelessly smitten Vic tagging along.

Further tension and anxiety is placed on Robyn when it becomes clear that Thatcher Economics
has create a financial crisis within the university system and Robyn’s odds of landing a full time
position shrink before her very eyes. The only bright spot is finding a powerful advocate
supporting her should she decide to apply for a women’s studies position at Euphoric State
University. That support is a direct result of the quality of a book she is currently writing on
feminism. Coincidentally, the business world of Vic is also being affected by the current state of
British economics. The company that Vic works announces a merger with one of its competitors,
thus eliminating Vic’s position in the process.

Leave it to the Aussies to save the day. Robyn finds out that an Uncle from Down Under has
passed on, naming her as sole beneficiary of an estate worth $300,000. The chasm between
business and academia is effectively bridged when she decides to invest the bulk of that
inheritance in Vic’s idea for a start-up company.

Vic reconciles with his wife while Robyn decides to withdraw her candidacy for the Euphoric
position and remain on temporary assignment at Rummidge amid hopes that a shot at a
permanent position has not been permanently lost.
Genre
A novel. This story could be considered to be a parody of an industrial novel.
Taking into account that many events take place in the university, this novel could
also be regarded as the campus novel.
Setting and Context
The story starts on January 13th, in an imaginary city Rummidge, England. This is
an Industry Year. According to the government, university workers should spend at
least one day a week during the whole term on a factory or a plant, so that they
could get an idea how industry works. It is supposed that in such a way both the
university workers and the manufacturers benefit from this situation, learning
needs and struggles of each other’s spheres of work. An appointed university
worker is called a shadow, for he/she should follow a supervisor all day long.
Narrator and Point of View
The third-person point of view
Tone and Mood
The tone and mood of the story are ironic, humorous, and light. In spite of the fact
that the novel reveals serious topics such as a financial crisis, family problems and
racism, the story is rich in humor.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Robyn Penrose is the protagonist of the story, while Victor Wilcox is the
antagonist of the story.
Major Conflict
The major conflict of the novel is an ideological one. Robyn Penrose and Victor
Wilcox are bearers of two different worldviews.
Climax
Victor Wilcox’ dismissal is the climax of the story. In spite of his hard work,
diligence and willingness to sacrifice all his time and strength for the benefit of the
company, he is fired.
Foreshadowing
Robyn’s constant references to “North and South” and an image of an industrial
part of a city with its numerous factories at the beginning of the story foreshadow
the plot of the story.
Understatement
Loneliness among the elderly. The image of an old house where Vic’s “widower
father still stubbornly lives” leaves a sad and depressive feeling.
Allusions
The novel is really rich in allusion. Robyn Penrose is specialized in an industrial
novel, that is why she constantly mentions such literary works as “North and
South” by Elizabeth Gaskell, “Wuthering Heights’’ by Emily Bronte, works of
Daniel Defoe, Charles Dickens. James Joyce etc. The characters of the story also
read “Daily Mail” and “The Guardian”.
Imagery
The novel is rich in imagery, for it helps to show the differences between the
characters and is needed to give a reader a view on Rummidge.
Paradox
Everything nice is bad for you.
When Brian Everthorne says it, he means diets and a healthy lifestyle which forbid
fat food, alcohol and cigarettes.
Parallelism
Seeing is believing.
Taking into account that this phrase is a proverb, parallelism is needed to make it
easier for memorizing.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
There are some whites there too.
Whites are an example of synecdoche which denotes Caucasian people.
A pair of highly polished half calf Oxfords
Oxfords are a metonymy which denotes a pair of shoes.
Personification
The car behind hoots impatiently.
The feelings of a driver are projected onto the car.