Hmmm...

I've read a lot, so it's hard to say specifically what fiction had a lasting impact. I will point to Ultima IV, though; I played through the NES version with the help of Nintendo Power magazine. It's a very unusual game compared to the standard RPG plot. Instead of there being some world-threatening crisis with some BigBad to defeat, the game's goal is to become a moral person and serve as an example for others to follow.

I learned about work from Dilbert, which, as everyone knows, is not a satire, but a documentary.

The first two, and only the first two, books of Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series have some useful lessons that I took to heart. Unfortunately, Goodkind followed them up with a big pile of toxic waste, eventually turning the series's moral basis completely on its head, with the hero coming to embody everything he was warned against becoming.

I'd also recommend Terry Pratchett's Discworld series to everyone under the sun. (Start with Mort.)