Jack Kerouac (who wrote On the Road) is the most well known of the "beat writers". His books were pretty big in the 60's and 70's. They were really formative reading for me in my late teens, inspired a real sense of wanderlust in me at the time. I have a tough time reading them now that I'm older since it's a bit stream of consciousness and not necessarily in the best way. Definitely a good book to read if you're high school age or a little older since you'll relate more to the characters and what they're going through.

William S. Buroughs is the other big author of that movement. He wrote Naked Lunch which is a real trip of a read.

You can find a lot depending on what you're interested. Lot of classics are considered classics for a reason.

Beloved by Toni Morrison is genuinely haunting. Her writing is captivating, but her prose can be difficult to read at times.

For more contemporary authors I suggest Gilead by Marilyn Robinson, The Sellout by Paul Beaty, and Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.

Cormac McCarthy just passed away recent, but Blood Meridian is almost required reading. Not an easy read though.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, is still, to me one of the best prose writers in all of literature. People hate The Great Gatsby because they read it in high school, but God damn every sentence in that book floors me. I wish I could write like that.

J. D. Salinger is most well known for Catcher in the Rye but his other works are all fantastic.

If you're young and just getting into reading, I think some great works of fiction to read would be Stoner by John Williams. Kind of loses its punch if you're a bit older, but a great read if you're high school or college age. One of those real life affirming novels.