A book for a friend

Hi! A male friend of mine loves to read and to write. I wanted to surprise him with a book for Christmas. He’s 31 years old. I asked him what he likes and his answer was: Books with real tragedy, deep melancholy. Nothing in the present, but rather in the 60s or 80s. Something that accompanies the life of a literary character over many years. Always a fucked-up life.
Please help me out, I really want a good book for him but since I’m not really into reading I don’t really know what to look for. And it kinda intimidates me that he has read so many books already lol
Thank u all!!