What was the title of C.S. Lewis’s autobiographical book about his spiritual development?

Surprised by Joy is C.S. Lewis’s autobiographical book about his spiritual development. Published in 1955, it traces important stages in his childhood, education, literary interests, movement toward atheism, and return to Christianity.

The title refers to Lewis’s idea of “joy,” a powerful and elusive longing that he associated with experiences in literature, nature, and imagination. He did not use the word simply to mean ordinary happiness; instead, he described it as a desire awakened by glimpses of something beyond the immediate experience.

Lewis’s conversion was gradual rather than a single uncomplicated event. He returned to belief in God in 1930 and later became a Christian in 1931. Surprised by Joy is therefore an intellectual and spiritual memoir, not a full chronological record of every event in his life.