Nice Work is a novel written by David Lodge in 1988. The story mainly revolves around Robyn Penrose, who is a feminist university lecturer and specializes in women's writing. She meets Vic Wilcox, who is the manager of an engineering firm. The story is set in the fictional city of Rummidge and Robyn and Vic have many encounters together as Robyn is assigned to shadow Vic under a government program. This leads to the development of their relationship throughout the book, as Robyn accepts fate which leads her to Vic and in doing so relaxes her feminist beliefs. Vic also discovers a romanticism within himself that he had previously disliked, and the two result in having a relationship.
The book was written by the author to explore the industrial novel genre, and to describe how feminism does not define a person entirely. Rather, fate seems to have the upper hand and can lead to a person letting go of their beliefs in pursuit of fate.
The book was well received by critics and fans alike. The novel won the Sunday Express Book of the Year award in 1988 and was also shortlisted for the Booker prize. The book was also broadcast as a TV miniseries.
