If ideas are your thing then I would think of:
Aldous Huxley's POINT COUNTER POINT and CROME YELLOW both funny, acerbic
and very pointed commentaries on British society and intellectual life,
see too his ANTIC HAY; George Orwell's KEEP THE APIDISTRA FLYING; Andre
Malraux' MAN'S HOPE on the Spanish Civil War; Andre Moravia's THE
CONFORMIST for fascism; Carlo Levi CHRIST STOPPED AT EBOLI Italian
fascism; of course Arthur Koestler's DARKNESS AT NOON; Elizabeth Bowen's
THE HEAT OF THE DAY; Evelyn Waugh's A HANDFUL OF DUST, BRIDESHEAD
REVISITED, BLACK MISCHIEF.
Just to name a few that come to mind.
sean farrell moran
dept of history
oakland university