Lord Jim is a novel by Joseph Conrad originally published as a serial in Blackwood's Magazine from October 1899 to November 1900.

An early and primary event in the story is the abandonment of a passenger ship in distress by its crew, including a young British seaman named Jim.

Lord Jim is the story of a man named Marlow's struggle to tell and to understand the life story of a man named Jim.

Jim is a promising young man who goes to sea as a youth.

He rises quickly through the ranks and soon becomes chief mate.