The Foundation Trilogy: Isaac Asimov
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, in outer space. Avoid all sequels, prequels and other monstrosities.
Rendezvous With Rama: Arthur C. clarke
Russo-American space team explores mysterious artifact. Genuinely awe-inspiring.
Neuromancer: William Gibson
The original Cyber Punk novel. Made geeks sexy. Inspired The Matrix and a significant proportion of the dotcom bubble.
The War Of The Worlds: H.G. Wells
The original Alien Invasion novel. Hundreds have copied the idea, but for sheer majesty, no one has ever come close.
Escape From Kathmandu: Kim Stanley Robinson
Laid-back American hippies rescue Yeti and climb Mt Everest by mistake, fight Nepalese bureaucracy and almost start WW III.
Flowers From Algernon: Algys Budris
Dim man made brilliant by science. But the treatment turns out to be temporary.
1984: George Orwell
Are you sure you don’t live in it?
The Lost World: Sir Arthur C. Doyle
Victim of Hollywood Grand Larceny.
Starship Troopers: Robert Heinlein
Galactic war, from the infantry point of view. If Bush gets a copy, we’re all inbig trouble. Uncannily close already.