How to Install/Configure Oracle Instant Client on Ubuntu
Updated Per Feedback
I never really found a good answer to this that didn't involve a lot of manual steps, so I made a solution.

You can download a script from my oracle_instant_client_for_ubuntu GitHub repo which will convert Oracle rpms into Ubuntu compatible packages and then install them for you.

It now supports multiple versions of the instant client.  Feel free to log issues via GitHub.

Currently, this project only supports 64-bit systems.