Maze of Death by Philip K. Dick.
Inception seems to owe more than a little to Philip K. Dick’s reality-bending sci-fi yarns. In Maze of Death, which takes place in a world in which god seems to be an objectively real entity, several down-and-out misfits are assigned to work on a harsh, mostly uninhabited planet. But after losing radio contact with their employer they find themselves stranded without even knowing what their assignment is.
Japanese author Haruki Murakami is a master of writing surreal, dream-like novels. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World revolves around a “calcutec,” who uses his brain as a type of encrypted storage. Companies hire him to store securely store trade secrets. Until, of course, something goes wrong.
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
Neuromancer by William Gibson.
I thought of Inception initially as a Dickian film, but my friend Ian pointed out it’s actually more of a Gibsonian film. Neuromancer, Gibson’s first novel, is a heist story taking place in virtual reality. Inception fans should feel right at home.
From http://technoccult.net/archives/2010/07/30/inception-novels/
I’m a huge William Gibson fan, and Neuromancer is perhaps my favorite novel. After seeing Inception, I told some friends that it’s probably the closest anyone will ever get to making a film version of Neuromancer. I was being hyperbolic of course (and someone apparently is working on a film version of Neuromancer) but Inception borrows so much from Neuromancer that it’s impossible not to parallel the two films. Most importantly it borrows the overall mood of the book, but there’s a remarkable similarity in details (including the “haunting” of Cobb by his wife, as the protagonist in Neuromancer is tormented by his dead lover.) But Inception stands on its own obviously, even for those unfamiliar with its influences. Inception proves that movies can be intelligent and wildly entertaining. Thank God for directors like Christopher Nolan.