narayan won numerous awards during the course of his literary career. his first major award was in 1958, the sahitya akademi award for "the guide". when the book was made into a film, he received the filmfare award for the best story. in 1964, he received the padma bhushan during the republic day honours. in 1980, he was awarded the ac benson medal by the (british) royal society of literature, of which he was an honorary member. in 1982 he was elected an honorary member of the american academy of arts and letters. he was nominated for the nobel prize in literature multiple times, but never won the honour.