How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Welch was talking yet again about his concert. How had he become Professor of History, even at a place like this? By published work? No. By extra good teaching? No in italics. Then how? (1.9)
In case you were in total awe of university professors before now, Amis is telling you that you can quit being impressed. With Professor Welch, it's simply a case of the university hiring an eccentric fool and then giving him tenure so he can never get fired.
Quote #2
They moved towards the road at a walking pace, the engine maintaining a loud lowing sound which caused a late group of students, most of them wearing the yellow and green College scarf, to stare after them. (1.32)
Professor Welch might know a thing or two about history, but when it comes to practical things like driving a car, the guy doesn't have the first clue about what he's doing. If you don't know how to tie your own shoes or drive a car, what good is it to know about obscure historical stuff? (Fun fact: Amis himself never learned to drive because he thought it would get in the way of his drinking.)
Quote #3
[I]t was a perfect title, in that it crystallized the article's niggling mindlessness, its funereal parade of yawn-enforcing facts, the pseudo-light it threw upon non-problems. (1.45)
Here, we see Jim elaborating on just how stupid he thinks his own article is: "The Economic Influence of the Development in Shipbuilding Techniques 1450-1485." But Amis isn't just making fun of history here; he's making fun of the university as an institution where a bunch of intellectuals spend their time producing completely useless information.