 As their relationship develops and transforms into real-life everyday aridity and boredom, Vic ultimately comes to terms with his life and what it really means to love.The novel has had some influence on the literary community, leaving the label "lad-lit" behind, although the term itself was not coined until the 1990s.In 1962 the novel was turned into a film "A Kind of Loving" directed by John Schlesinger and starring Alan Bates and June Ritchie.