Fantastic book, hilarious at times but still taking things seriously, and since you have some interest in Islam and in how it fits into European society, it should work. See <a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/books/messageboard/170426/">my review</a>.

Some other recent and less recent favourites:

- Yukio Mishima, Spring Snow (about Japan in the 1910s, with a fascinating tension between Western modernity and the Japanese traditions, only downside is the protagonist is somewhat annoying early on; <a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/books/messageboard/182261/">my review</a> )

- Marguerite Yourcenar, Mémoires d'Hadrien (as the title says, a literary "autobiography" of Hadrian, with an emphasis on his worldview and philosophy, you could read it in the translation by Yourcenar's girlfriend Grace Frick, but I think it's worth reading in the original, if you have time at some point; <a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/books/messageboard/181893/">my review</a>

- Tad Williams, Otherland series, since you mention not having read him yet; set in a world in the mid-21st century which has become rather more globalized still, and has life-like virtual reality worlds in which most of the story takes place (settings include Middle-Earth, Alice in Wonderland, Mars, the Odyssey and a lot of others)

- Michel Faber, The Crimson Petal and the White (Dickens-like story about a young Victorian prostitute and her attempts to make life better for her and those around her, very gripping and highly entertaining)