I've always enjoyed fiction in situations like yours. Iain M. Banks has some accessible but interesting sci-fi (recommendations: Consider Phlebas, Use of Weapon

I've always enjoyed fiction in situations like yours. Iain M. Banks has some accessible but interesting sci-fi (recommendations: Consider Phlebas, Use of Weapons), and it's hard to go wrong with anything Jose Saramago wrote (recommendations: All the Names, Blindness, Death With Interruptions).