Decline and Fall

Decline and Fall, published in 1928, is Evelyn Waugh’s satirical debut novel that lampoons British society through the misadventures of its hapless protagonist, Paul Pennyfeather. After being unfairly expelled from Oxford, Paul finds himself teaching at a disreputable school, falling into the orbit of eccentric aristocrats and corrupt socialites. Waugh’s razor-sharp wit and deadpan style mock the absurdities of class, education, religion, and propriety in post–World War I Britain. With its farcical events and surreal humor, Decline and Fall is a biting, darkly comic reflection on a society teetering on the edge of collapse.