We introduce a generalized inverse Gaussian setting and consider the maximal operator associated with the natural analogue of a nonsymmetric Ornstein--Uhlenbeck semigroup. We prove that it is bounded on $L^{p}$ when $p\in (1,\infty]$ and that it is of weak type $(1,1)$, with respect to the relevant measure. For small values of the time parameter $t$, the proof hinges on the "forbidden zones" method previously introduced in the Gaussian context. But for large times the proof requires new tools.