http://www.danneh.org/2011/09/configurable-product-simple-product-id-magento-1-5/
$simpleProductId = 465;
$parentIds = Mage::getResourceSingleton('catalog/product_type_configurable')
->getParentIdsByChild($simpleProductId);
$product = Mage::getModel('catalog/product')->load($parentIds[0]);
echo $product->getId(); // ID = 462 (aka, Parent of 465)