What is the title of C.S. Lewis’s autobiography about his conversion and rediscovered joy?

C.S. Lewis’s autobiography about his conversion and rediscovered joy is Surprised by Joy.

Published in 1955, Surprised by Joy describes important stages in Lewis’s intellectual and spiritual development. It covers his childhood, education, military service during the First World War, academic life, friendships, and movement from atheism toward Christianity. The narrative ends before the later public fame associated with the Narnia books.

In the book, Lewis uses “joy” as a specialized term for intense, fleeting experiences of longing or desire. He connects these experiences with literature, imagination, and a search for something beyond ordinary satisfaction. The title is not simply a reference to feeling cheerful; it reflects a central idea in his account of conversion.

A Grief Observed is a different autobiographical work, focused on Lewis’s grief after the death of his wife, Joy Davidman. The two titles are therefore easy to confuse, but they address very different periods and subjects.