Franz Kafka
I have to include Franz Kafka just because of how influential his work became. Kafka, born in Prague in 1883, wrote wild tales, most of which were unpublished until after his death. He ordered the executor of his will to destroy his writings but luckily they were saved, though some of them were confiscated by the Gestapo and have been lost. After his death his works were published and were met with high critical acclaim. Their surreal and absurdist nature are hard to classify and many critical interpretations of his work have been offered. Also, his original compositions in German use a trait of the language that allows for long sentences that span entire pages often with the "punch" coming just before the impact; which makes them tough to translate. Kind of makes me want to brush up on my German.
The Metamorphosis
His most famous work and the only finished work that could be considered of novel length is
The Metamorphosis. It is the tale of Gregor Samsa, a man who awakes in the form of a giant bug. As he awakes he laments mainly on the awful state of the weather outside and does not really notice his transformation. In fact, throughout the book he makes an effort not to be conscious of his physical state. Nobody else seems to care about his form except that he becomes a burden. They care for him reluctantly and eventually ignore him until he dies. It is this kind of writing about surreal alienation that makes Kafka a legend.