If The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was a work of genuine lunacy, and its sequel The Restaurant at the End of the Universe less inspired and considerably more ragged, [Life, the Universe and Everything] is a much busier but practically mirthless offering: the whole notion palls, the dialogue is frequently reduced to the characters telling one another to "zark off," and even the chunks of furious hyperbole have an ominously serious ring…. [There] are some amusing spots, including: Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged, bored with being immortal, has decided to travel about insulting everybody in the universe—in alphabetical order; and the longest, most destructive party ever held, attended by the winner of the prestigious Rory award for Most Gratuitous Use of the Word "Belgium" in a Serious Screenplay. Overall, however: an effortful enterprise which at best achieves a sort of slow-witted camp pulp—and only for Adams addicts.
A review of "Life, the Universe, and Everything," in Kirkus Reviews (copyright © 1982 The Kirkus Service, Inc.), Vol. L, No. 17, September 1, 1982, p. 1020.
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