My friend is never happy for my success and delusional about his own

It sounds like he’s got a good friend and you’ve got someone who considers you a member of his staff.

It is not your friend anymore, some people grow both personally and professionally, and some just get stuck. A little reality check will eventually come, and hopefully, he will realise his actions and appreciate his surroundings once again (if it won't be too late).

I have known one of my oldest friends since we were tiny, because our mums worked together. He's had a very comfortable upbringing although, like mine, his parents did divorce. We went to universities of a similar rank and I got top grades and he did very averagely. He kept saying it was because he didn't apply himself enough but he could get higher grades if he tried.

COVID hit and I got a scholarship to do my MA. He was unemployed and wouldn't take any job that he thought was 'beneath him', i.e. nothing manual. I've always worked part time in retail and done manual work so this annoyed me a lot. He got a job in an office in the end but they let him go after a few months - he said they were having a reshuffle, but I also heard that he played games during working hours and was lazy. Now, he has another office job, and he keeps going on about how amazing he is and how they're so lucky to have him because he's a university graduate.

I saw him last month and was excited to tell him that I got into a number of PhDs. It's really prestigious - it's a full scholarship to a top US uni - and no one in my family has even been to university before, so I am so excited. I'd actually applied to a few universities in other countries as a back up and got rejected from his old university because I wasn't the best fit for the department. He started telling me it was that universities in the UK 'have standards' (his alma mater is ranked about 350 in the world) and that US universities in particular have low standards - according to him this includes the Ivies - because their PhDs have coursework.

I literally had no idea what to say and I was extremely annoyed. He shrugged it off and carried on with the day. At the end of the night he started offering to pay for my train because 'he has a job' when I literally earn more than him with my PhD stipend. It was just so condescending and I refused and went home. We left on what he thought was good terms but I was so annoyed.

I just don't get why he can never be happy for me. He's not an idiot - he's just lazy and full of himself. I am always excited for him but he has to put me down. Recently, he has been very prone to white lies and exaggeration. I care about him because we have known each other for so long and I'm going to be at his wedding next year as a groomsman. Just wanted to get this off of my chest as I want to stay friends but he's driving me insane.