That’s a really good list for your purposes, Gaspode.
I sort of second Vanity Fair, but I think it’s very size may be daunting to non-readers.
I’d maybe throw in some Hemingway, Mary McCarthy, Evelyn Waugh, John Cheever, Orwell’s essays.
In Cold Blood is a very good suggestion too.
I think fizzygoodmakefeelnice made a good point about American Psycho. I personally… Wait, is Anniee around here anywhere? No? Good. I don’t want to get in trouble. I personally loved American Psycho. Well, maybe “loved” is too strong a word. I was deeply affected by it, though, as I imagine most people who read it are. I think it makes a lot of really valid points about materialism and detachment in today’s world. But it’s an incredibly intense and disturbing book and springing it on unsuspecting college students would be a spectacularly bad idea, I think. Certainly, you should at least warn them about it and I definitely wouldn’t require them to read it.
As for a recomendation, since I haven’t seen it mentioned here already, I suggest Blood Music, by Greg Bear. It’s science-fiction, so you may not be able to include it, but it’s not too difficult a read and it’s such a fascinating story. It’s intelligent science-fiction, which seems to be a real rarity these days. It stays with you for days after you finish it.
I’ll have to chime in as well and say that quite a few of your choices are pretty heavy duty for “new” readers. “Fun 'n easy” doesn’t describe “The Naked and the Dead,” “On the Road,” or “Satanic Verses” to me.
I’d opt for something that has more visceral appeal, with some action, that moves along at a good clip. Hemingway, Conrad, Jack London, Steinbeck, etc. You might go into some of the other stuff after establishing a basis (Steinbeck>Kerouac>Kesey would be a great transition).
True, Rushdie might be a little tough for beginners. I mean, these are people around 20-25, who probably read some Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys or Pippi Longstocking when they were kids. The they hit puberty, other things started to interest them, while school slammed them with Ibsen and Strindberg, effectively turning them away from reading.
Had I not been hooked on SciFi at the time, it might have happened to me too.
Gobear, one shouldn’t argue personal tastes but I really enjoy Mailer. He’s published some utter garbage (Tough guys don’t dance) and some wonderful books. And after all, his debut was Naked and the Dead, written when he was 25 and it won him a pulitzer. In many ways, it’s the first post-WWII novel in theme and tone, where heroes aren’t what they used to be.
Well, since I’m a little bit white and male… 
But you’re right, and I thank you for your suggestions.
I should add that there are quite a few Swedish authors on the list too, but I didn’t bother to post them here.
Another reason to stay away from genre books, is that these students hardly need prompting about Harry Potter or LoTR. I want to show them that Graham Greene or John Irving are fun and easy, and by many considered to be good, if not astonishing, writers.
I think Tom Wolfe is one of the best and most important authors writing now. The Bonfire of the Vanities would be a good addition to the list.
Oh, to tip the scales against the whole “white & male” thing:
Toni Morrison - Beloved, Song of Solomon
Jean Rhys - Wide Sargasso Sea
Amy Tan - The Joy Luck Club
Other books I thought of are:
Jane Eyre
Things Fall Apart
The Great Gatsby
Fallen Angels (the Civil War novel, not the sci-fi novel)
A great book I enjoyed reading just for the raw, mind boggling wierdness of it is White Noise by Don Delillo. That may be a bit much though.
Sanscour
One of the most delightful and evocative books I ever read was “The Country of the Pointed Firs,” by Sarah Orne Jewett. All of her books are highly recommended.
I definitely agree there. I think he’d be especially good for people who don’t read a lot. His style is completely different from the elaborate prose some may be wary of, and his stories are engaging and very quirky. Mentioning that he wrote Fight Club might be all it takes to get some people to try him.
I’d have to agree with sanscour that “Time Machine” by HG Wells should be one of the books.
Gaspode why is science fiction being shunned in this list?
Also, another HG Wells favorite of mine - “The Invisible Man”.
A lot of the books mentioned are great, but maybe too heavy for people who never read.
As far as books to show a joy of reading, the best are anything by Kurt Vonnegut except for Slaughterhouse Five (great book, but maybe not for non-readers), Nabokov’s Lolita and Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye.
On the other hand, if you want to make a non-reader really hate literature and the English language, make them read Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake and Ulysses.
Ouch. I personally enjoyed both books, but I wouldn’t recommend them to non-readers either.
Ouch.
Fight Club definately - I also loved Invisible Monsters, and the twist in the end is rewarding.
I loved Fingersmith by Sarah Waters - it’s quirky and Victorian with just enough sauce to keep you reading.
I would suggest The Crimson Petal and the White but you said you didn’t want to scare people away…A shorter genre-bending book by Michael Faber (as well as being much shorter) is Under the Skin, which is also good.
I’ll second Margaret Atwood - Handmaiden’s Tale and raise you an Alias Grace - longer but fantastic.