Decline and Fall

Evelyn Waugh's debut novel offers a sharp and humorous satire of English school life in the 1920s, following Paul Pennyfeather, who unexpectedly becomes a schoolmaster after being expelled from Oxford. At a boys' private school in Wales, he encounters a colorful cast of misfits, including the doubtful Prendy and the perpetually inebriated Captain Grimes. As chaos ensues, particularly during the much-anticipated Sports Day, the arrival of the enchanting Margot Beste-Chetwynde adds to the unfolding farce, leaving Paul and others hilariously vulnerable.