There are plenty of sayings about the devil: you can't kill him or cheat him, but what if you could? These book are all about mortals who go up against the King Of Lies, and perhaps they come up on top.
The two opposing sides of the afterlife have their rules for every occasion, but they never counted on Saloninus in K.J. Parker's The Devil You Know. Saloninus is a philosopher, con man, and most abhorrent to his demon guardian and helpmate, an alchemist. He signs the standard contract, but his demon can't help but feel something's fishy. This is a fun, quick read by a highly acclaimed author.
Speaking of that contract, what happens if you decide not to sign it? Nebbish Chesney Anstruther does just that in The Damned Busters by Matthew Hughes. Summoning that demon was an accident, you see, so why should Chesney feel obligated? The following impasse leads to Hell going on strike, which means no bad things happening on Earth. This may sound like a good thing, but it leads to hilarious disaster in this fast-paced novel.
I do so like Tom Holt (read my last review of one of his books here), and he wrote a book about how work can be hell. In You Don't Have to Be Evil to Work Here, but It Helps, the Hollinghead family widget business is in trouble. Old Mr. Hollinghead seems to think he's engaged in just another sharp business practice to keep things going (albeit for a very long time), but his son Colin notices there's something...odd about the new workforce. Time to seek some magical help in this charming and witty fantasy.
If you have more of a philosophical bent but still like some humor, there's Andrei Codrescu's Wakefield. The title character is a travel writer and motivational speaker who has a year to find the true meaning of life. The devil, the original one, showed up at his door to usher him to the afterlife and Wakefield convinced him to strike this bargain. Wakefield travels the United States trying to come up with a solution to this existential problem while the devil has a midlife crisis. Dark humor abounds in this satire of late-1990s America.
Got more funny books about Beelzebub? Let us know in the comments.
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