Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett (Discworld 11)

"No one is finally dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away, until the clock wound up winds down, until the wine she made has finished its ferment, until the crop they planted is harvested. The span of someone's life is only the core of their actual existence."

Discworld book eleven is also the second book in the Death arc. What happens when Death is fired by the auditors of reality? This book answers that question, while being funny and thought provoking about such things as Sir Terry always is.