C. S. Lewis
Lewis and fellow novelist J. R. R. Tolkien were close friends. They both served on the English faculty at Oxford University, and were active in the informal Oxford literary group known as the Inklings. According to Lewis's memoir "Surprised by Joy", he was baptised in the Church of Ireland, but fell away from his faith during adolescence. Lewis returned to Anglicanism at the age of 32, owing to the influence of Tolkien and other friends, and he became an "ordinary layman of the Church of England". Lewis's faith profoundly affected his work, and his wartime radio broadcasts on the subject of Christianity brought him wide acclaim.
C. S. Lewis
Many books have been inspired by Lewis, including "A Severe Mercy" by his correspondent and friend Sheldon Vanauken. "The Chronicles of Narnia" has been particularly influential. Modern children's literature has been more or less influenced by Lewis's series, such as Daniel Handler's "A Series of Unfortunate Events", Eoin Colfer's "Artemis Fowl", Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials", and J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" . Pullman is an atheist and so fierce a critic of Lewis's work as to be dubbed "the anti-Lewis". He considers C. S. Lewis a negative influence and has accused Lewis of featuring religious propaganda, misogyny, racism, and emotional sadism in his books. Authors of adult fantasy literature such as Tim Powers have also testified to being influenced by Lewis's work.