When You Are Engulfed in Flames is a collection of essays by American humorist David Sedaris.

Sedaris's sixth book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames assembles essays on various situations such as trying to make coffee when the water is shut off, associations in the French countryside, buying drugs in a mobile home in rural North Carolina, having a lozenge fall from your mouth into the lap of a fellow passenger on a plane, armoring windows with LP covers to protect the house from neurotic songbirds, lancing a boil from another's backside, and venturing to Japan to quit smoking.

The book was a commercial success, topping The New York Times Best Seller list for eight weeks.

Sedaris was a guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central on June 3, 2008.

It features Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette, an early painting by Vincent van Gogh.