Which 1955 C.S. Lewis autobiography explores his changing experience of desire and joy?

Surprised by Joy is C.S. Lewis’s 1955 autobiography about his changing experience of desire and joy.

Published in 1955, Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life traces Lewis’s childhood, education, intellectual development, and movement from atheism toward Christianity. The title refers to a distinctive longing Lewis called “Joy,” an intense experience of desire that he believed pointed beyond ordinary satisfaction.

The memoir discusses his early life in Belfast, schooling in England, service during the First World War, and academic formation. It also describes the influence of literature, mythology, and friendships on his religious development. Lewis presents conversion as a process rather than a single isolated event.

The book is not the same as A Grief Observed, which reflects on bereavement after the death of Lewis’s wife, Joy Davidman. Nor is it a general collection of religious arguments. Surprised by Joy is specifically an autobiographical account of Lewis’s early life and intellectual-religious journey.