Hilton, James 1900-1954. British novelist whose best-known works are Lost Horizon (1933), set in the fictional land of Shangri-La, and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1934).American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.