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[Zarkumo]

I am doing a degree in English Lit as well, so the stuff I read is probably quite different from what "normal" people read.

I am big fan of Scottish Lit (I know, they talk funny, but a lot of them can actually write quite well) and would definetely recommend Iain (M.) Banks. He calls himself Iain Banks when writing "regular" fiction, of which I would strongly recommend The Bridge and to a lesser extent The Wasp Factory. For some reason he calls himself Iain M. Banks when writing science fiction, of which I would strongly recommend Consider Phlebas, Feersum Enjin and maybe The Player of Games.
One of my alltime favourites is Alan Warner: Morvern Callar.

Looking at American Lit, I seem to be one of the few people who liked Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club better than the movie version. The short stories of Edgar Allan Poe still rock today.

When it comes to German Lit, I would very strongly recommend anything from Franz Kafka, especially Die Verwandlung/The Metamorphosis and Der Proceß/The Trial.
I'd also strongly recommend Erich Maria Remarque: Im Westen Nichts Neues/All Quite on the Western Front which is just breathtaking.
In both cases, I am not sure how well the English translations are, though.

Anyway, I would strongly recommend to anyone to read at all, what you actually read is secondary in my opinion.