From the beginning of his literary career, Éric Chevillard has given animals of all kinds a significant place in his writing. However, it would be too hasty to characterize Chevillard’s discourse on animals as politically engaged. While animal imagery is omnipresent in Chevillard’s oeuvre, this presence manifests in diverse forms, ranging from purely metaphorical use to acting as a purveyor of the imaginary. The nature of Chevillard’s relationship with the animal is thus protean, as is the manner in which he examines it. Drawing on his novels, the notes in L’autofictif, and the author’s interviews, our objective is to demonstrate that the author develops a personal discourse that mobilizes the animal as a model of authorship, rather than adopting a militant stance, and that considers the sixth great extinction to be a reflection of the crisis experienced by contemporary literature, which is in need of writers – a group that, according to the author, is also in danger of extinction.