Azazel (Asimov)

Azazel is a character created by Isaac Asimov and featured in a series of fantasy short stories.

The stories take the form of conversations between an unnamed writer (whom Asimov identifies in the collection introduction as himself) and a shiftless friend named George (named in "The Two-Centimeter Demon" as George Bitternut).

George's greatest goal in life is a free lunch (or dinner, or ride, etc.

George can only call upon Azazel for favors to various friends, which invariably go awry.

The stories' theme about a demon or alien that grants wishes echoes an earlier work by Lester del Rey, titled "No Strings Attached"[1] from 1954.