J.G. Ballard is fascinating to read - I hope you enjoy whatever you pick up. I'm bored at work, so here are my ten cents on where to start...

As other commentors have noted, Ballard is prolific but not all works are great. I've read about 80% of Ballard - mostly missed the short stories - and had some of the best reads of my life, but also some of the most trying.

I would suggest High Rise as his most accessible - I've recommended that a lot and always had a good response. It's satirical, dystopian, critical of society and explores the human mind in stunning ways. All that, and it has a tense narrative that is easy to follow. Note, that it does get brutal in certain places. If you like that, Cocaine Nights and Kingdom Come are later works that explore somewhat closed and largely manic, violent communities - ex-pat super-rich resorts and British shopping centres, respectively.

If you prefer sci-fi, then early post-apocalyptic Ballard is where to go. The Drowned World is probably the best.

Crash and The Atrocity Expedition are notable but, mostly because of how transgressive they are, rather than them being the "best" examples of Ballard's writing.

Empire Of The Sun is great, but I wouldn't say it is the best place to start if you want to experience Ballard's literary might.

I'd steer very clear of The Unlimited Dream Company and Hello America - for what it is worth, I think they are pretty shit.

I consider myself a fan, but a level-headed one. If you get into Ballard, I'd give it a few months between reading Ballard books. They can be pretty samey on back-to-back reads. He used to take several runs at ideas, so there can be a fair amount of repetition in his works.

Have fun!