The narrator finds himself in the grey limbo of Hell, where the disgruntled inhabitants take a bus-ride to the plains of Heaven, where they meet angels and the souls of those already in Heaven. This fantasy communicates Lewis's deep spiritual truths through the power of the fantastic.

'Mr. Lewis rouses curiosity about life after death only to sharpen awareness of this world.' Guardian Lewis, perhaps more than any other twentieth century writer, forced those who listened to him and read his works to come to terms with their own philosophical presuppositions. Los Angeles Times