Which C.S. Lewis novel was published in 1945 and satirized the idea of a planned, controlled society?

That Hideous Strength was published in 1945 and satirizes the idea of a planned, controlled society. It is the third novel in C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy, following Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra.

The story follows Mark Studdock, a sociologist drawn toward the National Institute of Coordinated Experiments, or NICE. The organization presents itself as a scientific and administrative project but seeks sweeping control over human life. Lewis combines science fiction, social criticism, Arthurian elements, and Christian themes.

Unlike the first two trilogy novels, most of That Hideous Strength takes place on Earth. Its title comes from a line in David Lindsay’s 1920 novel A Voyage to Arcturus, which Lewis also used as an epigraph. The book’s target is not ordinary scientific research but the abuse of technocratic power.