Hilton, James (1900-1954)

English-born US novelist. His books include Lost Horizon (1933), envisaging Shangri-la, a remote district of Tibet where time stands still; and Goodbye, Mr Chips (1934), a portrait of an old schoolteacher, written in four days for serialization in the British Weekly in 1933.

Invited to Hollywood 1936 to help with the screening of his books, he stayed on as a scriptwriter, winning an award for his contribution to Mrs Miniver 1942. He became a US citizen in 1948. He also wrote novels under the pseudonym Glen Trevor.

Hilton was born in Leigh, Lancashire, and studied at Cambridge. His novel Catherine Herself (1920) appeared while he was still an undergraduate. Other novels include Knight Without Armour (1933), We Are Not Alone (1937), To You, Mr Chips (1938), Random Harvest (1941), Nothing So Strange (1947), and Time and Time Again (1953).