Rebels without a Cause? : An analysis of selected literature of the "Angry Young Men" in relation to changing class structures in postwar Britain

In my thesis I am analysing four literary texts all written during the 1950s in Britain. The four texts are "Lucky Jim" by Kingsley Amis, "Look Back in Anger" by John Osborne, "Room at the Top" by John Braine and "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" by Allan Sillitoe. All of these texts were placed under the heading of Angry Literature by the media and the authors were labelled Angry Young Men. My concern in my thesis is whether the term 'angry' as regards these texts and their authors is appropriate. Are there any anger expressed in the texts at all? If so, how is it expressed? My starting point is that these texts all relate to changes in class structure that took place in Britain during the time period and that is precisely where the anger is derived from. The changes were so fundamental that, as shown through the protagonists in the chosen texts, they led to identity crises and various expressions of anger