50 pages • 1 hour read
George OrwellComing Up for Air
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1939A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Before You Read
Super Short Summary
Coming Up for Air by George Orwell is an interwar novel following George Bowling, a middle-aged insurance salesman in the late 1930s, who copes with anxieties about the impending war while reminiscing about his childhood in Lower Binfield. The novel explores themes like trauma, surveillance, totalitarianism, and nostalgia, culminating in Bowling’s realization that his cherished past has irrevocably changed.
Reviews & Readership
Review Roundup
Coming Up for Air by George Orwell is praised for its keen insight into English middle-class life pre-WWII, blending nostalgia with a growing sense of darkness. Critics appreciate Orwell's vivid prose and compelling protagonist, though some find it lacks the intensity of his later works. Overall, it's a poignant reflection on change and disillusionment.
Who Should Read Coming Up for Air?
Readers who enjoy George Orwell's Coming Up for Air often appreciate introspective narratives exploring nostalgia and societal change. Fans of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World or J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye may find resonance in this semi-autobiographical novel's examination of pre-war disillusionment and personal reflection.
RecommendedReading Age
18+yearsLexile Level
1060L