A lot of sci Fi fans also get on well with Terry Pratchett. The audio books are really good, although I prefer Stephen Briggs who did the 2nd half to Nigel Planer. You can't go wrong with Going Postal, it doesn't rely on much from the earlier books, or Men at Arms if you wanted an earlier book in the discworld series.
If you wanted to stick to sci-fi, The Stars my Destination is one of my favorites, it's a modern count of Monte Cristo. Speaker for the dead is also one of my favorites, the sequel to enders game.
As someone born in Britain, it saddens me to see so much hatred throw around casually.