What was C.S. Lewis’s 1955 spiritual autobiography called?

C.S. Lewis’s 1955 spiritual autobiography was called Surprised by Joy.

Surprised by Joy traces Lewis’s intellectual and spiritual development from childhood through his return to Christianity. The title refers to a powerful experience of longing or delight that Lewis called “joy,” a term he used for an intense desire pointing beyond ordinary satisfaction. The book is not a complete day-by-day autobiography; it concentrates on formative ideas, books, friendships, and beliefs.

Lewis describes his movement from childhood Christianity to atheism and then toward theism and Christianity. His relationships with J.R.R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson played an important part in the later stages of that journey.

The book is often confused with A Grief Observed, which concerns Lewis’s grief after the death of his wife, Joy Davidman. Despite the shared word “joy” in the title and her name, the two books have very different subjects and were published six years apart.