Shangri-La Shangri-La Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel "Lost Horizon" by British author James Hilton. Hilton describes Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains. Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise, particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia – a permanently happy land, isolated from the world. In the novel, the people who live at Shangri-La are almost immortal, living hundreds of years beyond the normal lifespan and only very slowly aging in appearance. The name also evokes the imagery of the exoticism of the
James Hilton (novelist) next eleven years were difficult for him, and it was not until 1931 that he had success with the novel "And Now Goodbye". Following this, several of his books were international bestsellers and inspired successful film adaptations, notably "Lost Horizon" (1933), which won a Hawthornden Prize; "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (1934); and "Random Harvest" (1941). After this, he continued to write, but the works were not regarded as of the same quality as his best-known novels. Hilton's books are sometimes characterised as sentimental and idealistic celebrations of English virtues. This is true of "Mr. Chips", but some of his novels had