I'm a massive fan of Douglas Adams. Especially the Hitch Hikers Guide Books. In fact I love all the incarnations (radio, tv, books, computer game) except the film which was a bit disapointing.
I find his view of the technology, the world, religion and many other things has probably influenced the way I look at human beings more than any serious literature I have ever read
Re-read all the books and watched the tv series again recently and none of it has lost its charm.
I also recently read 'And Another Thing' by Eoin Colfer which I was initially very very sceptical about (and understand its not real HHGTTG), but I actually thought it was rather good. Probably the best praise I can give it is there were times I was reading when I forgot Adams hadn't written it. But still not a patch on the originals.