I have to say this is an AWESOME post! I am a huge apocalyptic, and post-apocalyptic fiction fan!
I’ve read all of the following that others have already listed:
Battlefield Earth
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
The Stand
World War Z
On The Beach
I Am Legend
Out of those, I enjoyed World War Z, The Stand, and Battlefield Earth the most.
All of the others have now jumped to the top of my “Yet-to-read” queue. Thank you!
As for others not already mentioned:
1.) The Postman by David Brin
The book is much better than the film. Kevin Costner simply does not do it justice.
2.) Lights Out by Halffast (Found only online, so many may not be familiar with it.)
( http://www.survivalmonkey.com/SF%20books/LightsOut!/LightsOut-Current.pdf )
While the story certainly has it’s own ideological slant, it is a very good read.
3.) The Last Man by Mary Shelley.
This one is awesome if you happen to be a poetry fan. If you’re very sharp, you’ll notice two of the characters are modeled after Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron. Besides that, it is a post-apocalyptic novel set near the close of the 21st century, but it was written in the 1820’s, which is amusing in its own right.
4.) There will come soft Rains, from the Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury.
This is just a short story about an automatic house doing chores and caring for a family long after a nuclear war made both irrelevant. One of my favorite short stories of all time, regardless of genre.
5.) Blindness by José Saramago.
I’m not sure if this one counts, as the story only focuses on one city and tells little about the fate of the rest of the world. Regardless, the English translation I read was much better than the film based on it.
6.) Also, I know you said “novel”, but the Fallout series, especially the original two, have a rich back story, and are fun to discover in their own way.
-Dan
(P.S. Waterworld still stinks.)