In Fast Lanes, (short stories, 1987) as in her earlier fiction, Phillips depicts the dislocations in contemporary American life. She examines in minute detail the impermanence of human relationships and the resulting destruction of individuals. Confronted with an impersonal society and disintegrating families which supply no enduring values, Phillips's characters can rely only on their own limited inner strength for support in their inevitable personal crises. Generally they have experienced—or are experiencing— either actual losses or omens of such losses. While the forms of their reactions vary, Phillips's people recognize the frailty of their psychological balance and use emotional detachment to shield themselves from further pain.