Which C.S. Lewis novel follows the demon Screwtape’s letters to his nephew Wormwood?

The C.S. Lewis novel built around the demon Screwtape’s letters to his nephew Wormwood is The Screwtape Letters. The book was published in 1942 and uses fictional correspondence to discuss temptation and human weakness.

Screwtape is an experienced tempter who advises the younger demon Wormwood, whose task is to influence a human “patient.” The letters reverse ordinary moral language: demonic success means leading the patient away from God, while apparent failure means the patient becomes spiritually stronger.

Lewis wrote the work as a satire of bureaucratic advice and spiritual self-deception. The epistolary structure lets readers see the demons’ plans while also exposing habits such as distraction, vanity, resentment, and misplaced attention. Lewis later said that the material’s tone made the book unpleasant to write.

The book is not a sequel to Mere Christianity, although both works present Lewis’s Christian ideas. It is also distinct from The Great Divorce, which uses an allegorical journey rather than correspondence between demons.