Clarke wrote over 30 science fiction novels and over 100 works of short fiction, winning both the Hugo and Nebula Awards several times. He moved to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) in 1956 and remained there for the rest of his life. One of his greatest wishes was for peace in Sri Lanka. "The Last Theorem" is set in his adopted country, and Pohl said that tensions between the Sinhalese Sri Lankan government and the Tamil liberation army (the Tamil Tigers) were "major inspirations for the novel".