The transitional nuclei 132 Xe and 133 Xe are investigated after multinucleon-transfer (MNT) and fusionevaporation reactions. Both nuclei are populated (i) in 136 Xe + 208 Pb MNT reactions employing the highresolution Advanced GAmma Tracking Array (AGATA) coupled to the magnetic spectrometer PRISMA, (ii) in the 136 Xe + 198 Pt MNT reaction employing the GAMMASPHERE spectrometer in combination with the gas-detector array CHICO, and (iii) as an evaporation residue after a 130 Te(α,xn) 134−xn Xe fusion-evaporation reaction employing the HORUS γ -ray array at the University of Cologne. The high-spin level schemes are considerably extended above the J π = (7 − ) and (10 + ) isomers in 132 Xe and above the 11/2 − isomer in PHYSICAL REVIEW C 96, 024321 (2017) isotones. Shell-model calculations employing the SN100PN and PQM130 effective interactions reproduce the experimental findings and provide guidance to the interpretation of the observed high-spin features.