In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden calls other people phony. In what way is he one? ( chapter 9)

In ,is
extremely phony withwhen he calls her at a very late hour. He pretends to be a mutual friend of
somebody named Eddie Birdsell and implies that he is a Princeton student. He pretends to be
older than sixteen, as he does throughout the novel. There is no doubt that Holden does a lot of
lying and misrepresenting.

I'm the most terrific liar you
ever saw in your life. It's awful. If I'm on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and
somebody asks me where I'm going, I'm liable to say I'm going to the opera.  ()

Examples of Holden's mendacity or phoniness can be found on
practically any page in the book. For example, opening the book at random to pages 96-97, we
come upon the encounter with the prostitute named . He decides he can't perform with her and
tells her:

"The thing is, I had an operation very
recently."