noun

An ambitious or ruthlessly self-seeking person, especially one who has recently acquired wealth or social status.

Full of arrivistes and the new rich for whom desperate consumption was a proof of being, its secret world (secret, that is, to all not admitted to the charmed circles of the West End) revolved around sex and gambling.

social climber,status seeker,would-be,go-getter,self-seeker,adventurer,adventuress