Alan Hackney's first novel, Private's Progress tells the story of the hapless Stanley Windrush. Called up in 1942 after his first year at Oxford, and despite his best efforts to avoid any kind of work or action, Stanley wanders from one mishap to the next, causing mayhem and meeting a host of unscrupulous characters along the way.

First published in 1954, Private's Progress was later made into a Boulting Brothers' film of the same name, and is the prequel to I'm All Right Jack, also published by Faber Finds.