Apparently, all it takes is for a rabid SF fan to like it.
Science Fiction Books – A Reading List by Dave Itzkoff – New York Times:
Following is a list of favorites, with commentary, by the writer of the Book Review’s new science fiction column.
Again with the genrefication. A Clockwork Orange is science fiction? Looking for Jake?
I don’t think so, but as the reviewer/genrefier says of his classification of The Crying of Lot 49 as SciFi:
Due to space limitations, I can’t offer my complete explanation of why this is a science-fiction book, so for the sake of efficiency let me simply say to anyone who disagrees with my classification of it as such: You’re wrong.
Ok, then.
I think the concepts of dystopian futures and stories where technology is either prominent piece of the staging or the moral equivalent of a character are being conflated; either that or some readers are assuming that since their preferred genre is SF, anything that engages them as deeply must also be SF. Rather than permit their canon to expand, they pull other works into their preferred canon.