In addition to many great suggestions already done:
Ben Elton's "Dead Famous" or "Blind Faith" (anything from him, actually, but those two are kind of a must)
Douglas Adams' "Dirk Gently's Hollistic Detective Agency" and its sequel "The Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul".
Terry Pratchett's "Disc-World" series (it's only about 26 books).
Christian-Eric Falardeau' Collective works... Oops! Sorry about that one! I don't know how he got on my list...
From the French side, I am sure you can find excellent translations of Michel Tremblay or of Milan Kundera.
