When I'm at the used bookshop, I always look for a Murakami book, Haruki or Ryu. I especially recommend Haruki's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World for this crowd, as data encryption plays a role. Ryu is probably best known for his horror novel Audition because it was adapted for film by Miike Takashi. Both would be classified as surreal. Haruki's novels famously always have a cat in them, but not always in a major role.