Up in the Air

Up in the Air is a 2001 novel written by Walter Kirn.

Plot summary

Ryan Bingham is a 35 year old career transition counselor at a Denver-based management consulting company, Integrated Strategic Management (ISM). He flies around the country firing people. Ryan is trying to get to one million frequent flyer miles before he leaves or he's fired from his employer.

He is divorced and his younger, disturbed sister is about to embark on yet another disastrous relationship. Ryan is positioning himself to be hired by MythTech, a shadowy company in Omaha.

Ryan inhabits a world of Palm Pilots, rental cars, salted almonds, Kevlar luggage and nameless suite hotels where e-mail and voice mail are the communication norm. He takes a lot of pills and spends time with women in Las Vegas. Ryan fears that someone may be furtively cashing in his precious miles, which would be tantamount to stealing his soul.

Film adaptations

Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner adapted this into the 2009 feature film starring George Clooney.