Journey to the End of the Night

Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline

Not that it's an actual autobiography, but "Journey to the End of the Night" by Louis Ferdinand Celine was based closely on his own life and was really something to read, albeit a tough something to get through at times. I was warned that it would be difficult to relate to as a "modern-day young democrat" and in my case at least, they were right. I've since bought two more of his books though (all of which seem to be fairly autobiographical) and can't wait to read them as well now. A word of caution: Not very inspiring material, just interesting literature. And it definitely had a profound influence on many subsequent authors.