ANDREW CRUMEY claims that his six novels to date can be seen as a loosely connected series that can be read in any order. While that's perhaps stretching the truth slightly, there are undeniable threads running through all his books, an accumulation of ideas that culminates in this wonderfully rounded piece of work.

This book, undoubtedly his most ambitious and accomplished, can be seen as both a summary and extension of his previous novels. In the past, Crumey has delighted readers by inserting both highbrow scientific ideas and literary tricks and references into his work (he has a PhD in theoretical physics and was literary editor at a Scottish broadsheet for seven years). But Sputnik Caledonia is his first novel to affect the heart as strongly as the head.

In structure and scope, Sputnik Caledonia resembles Alasdair Gray's Lanark, that classic of Scottish literature. The opening section is a warm and moving portrait of Scottish small-town life, as we meet Robbie Coyle, a schoolboy who dreams of becoming an astronaut. Robbie and his parents, Joe and Anne, are wonderfully drawn characters, and this section is full of a gentle, authentic family humour that smacks of authenticity.

By the second section we have switched to an alternative Scotland, one that became communist after the Second World War, a familiar scenario in Crumey's work. A fully grown Robert Coyle is training at a secret military base to become a cosmonaut, his mission to fly out to an approaching cosmic entity, thought to be a black hole.

In the final section of the book we return to realistic Scotland, although we have shot forward in time, with Joe and Anne nearing old age and still grieving after a family tragedy years before. These different worlds that Crumey creates are subtly interlinked and the concept of parallel universes, which stems from Einstein's relativity theory governing black holes, is one that Crumey folds expertly into his narrative and plot.

While that might sound heavy, there are plenty of laughs along the way. In the middle part, the facile yet oppressive bureaucracy of communism is smartly parodied, while the realistic sections are brimming with the ludicrous, nonsensical conflict of family life.

Sputnik Caledonia isn't perfect - the central section could do with editing and the ending is slightly uneven in style - but you're nevertheless left with admiration for the vision and ambition of a very fine writer.

Sputnik Caledonia by Andrew Crumey
Picador, £7.99; 553pp

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