In Stephen McCauley's comic novel, a gay man tires of fixing his family's problems

Stephen McCauley sits on my I-know-it'll-be-funny-and-smart-about-people bookshelf right next to Elinor Lipman and Cathleen Schine.

McCauley — whose protagonists are white gay men with complicated family or romantic dynamics (or both) — may still be best known for debut "The Object of My Affection," which became a romcom starring Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston. But he has written seven novels since "Object" in 1987 and I'd recommend them all, including his new one, "You Only Call When You're in Trouble."

The person who's presumably responsible for that title line is Tom, an architect who always puts his outrageous sister Dorothy and her needy daughter Cecily before himself. But, with a career in crisis (his client suddenly decides her modest, design-forward cottage needs a second level and he'll lose his job if he doesn't keep her happy) and a romantic life past the crisis stage (his partner left and already has a new squeeze), Tom decides it's Me Time.

You don't need to have read McCauley's other books to guess that he doesn't get a lot of help in that department from Dorothy, who's about to launch an ill-advised and expensive business venture, and Cecily, whose shaky career and love life are a mirror image of her uncle's. The three of them come together at a lavish party Dorothy throws to debut her business and unveil a Big Family Secret.

That sounds like a recipe for smart comedy and it is. In describing Tom's work, McCauley writes, "Anyone who'd ever played with Legos, lived under a roof or held a pencil was convinced they could design their own house. Part of his job as an architect was to praise the client's brilliance while showing them they were delusional."

McCauley is gifted at character details that are amusing but also help us understand why his people behave the way they do. Worried about looking old, sixtyish Tom has gradually dialed down the lights in his house until Cecily fears he'll soon live in total darkness. Meanwhile, irresponsible Dorothy gravitates toward casinos, not because she's a gambler but because she loves not knowing what time of day it is. And she makes a huge decision about her family based on a random Joni Mitchell song that pops up on her personal playlist.

"You Only Call When You're in Trouble" is sharp about people and family. That starts with McCauley making clear it's not Dorothy or Cecily's fault that Tom feels used — to avoid his own issues, he has prioritized theirs. So, of course they lean on him. All three characters are good at avoidance, which could either be in the family DNA or an almost universal trait of humans. Either way, we understand why Tom, Dorothy and Cecily are such messes and why they love each other, just the same.

The three share lots of things but one that McCauley leaves unsaid is that it takes a trio of career crises to drive them together — and to help them see what they really need to be working on.

You Only Call When You're in Trouble

By: Stephen McCauley.

Publisher: Holt, 323 pages, $27.99.