What is the author's style in Small World by David Lodge?

Small World is written in modern British English, at a high-brow level befitting academic people. Even the parts of the novel that descend into darkness in the unsavory neighborhoods of London and Amsterdam use only minimal amounts of lower-class speech. Allusions to literary works are, as one would expect in a novel about academics, frequent and usually well enough explained in context for those unfamiliar with the allusion to get the feel of what is being said - and why. Spokespeople for various linguistic and literary schools are pitted against one another intellectually, using appropriate jargon, dropping appropriate names and casting appropriate aspersions on opponents' arguments