 |
 First edition cover | |
| Author | Walter Kirn |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
Publication date | 2001 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 303 |
| ISBN | 978-0-385-49710-7 |
| OCLC | 46472260 |
| 813/.54 21 | |
| LC Class | PS3561.I746 U6 2001 |
| Preceded by | Thumbsucker (1999) |
| Followed by | Mission to America (2005) |
Up in the Air is a 2001 novel by American author Walter Kirn. It was adapted into the 2009 feature film of the same name starring George Clooney.
Ryan Bingham is a 35-year-old career transition counselor for a Denver-based management consulting company, Integrated Strategic Management (ISM). He is divorced and his disturbed younger sister is about to embark on yet another disastrous relationship. He flies around the country firing and then counseling recently laid-off people for reentering the job market.
Bingham inhabits a world of Palm Pilots, rental cars, salted almonds, Kevlar luggage and nameless suite hotels where e-mail and voicemail are the communication norm. He takes a lot of pills and spends time among women in Las Vegas.
Bingham is trying to get to a million frequent flyer miles, a number only reached by nine other people in the same mileage club (from the fictional airline Great West). Before his boss returns from vacation, Bingham files his letter of resignation and cancels his company credit card. Bingham is positioning himself to be hired by MythTech, a shadowy company based in Omaha, Nebraska.
Bingham fears that someone may be furtively cashing in his precious miles, which would be tantamount to stealing his soul. [1]
Kirn wrote the book in rural Montana during a snowbound winter on a ranch while thinking about airports, airplanes and about a particular conversation he had with another passenger in a first-class cabin. That passenger stated that he used to have an apartment in Atlanta but never used it. He got a storage locker instead, since he stayed in hotels and was on the road 300 days a year. He considered the flight crew to be like family, and indicated that he knew the flight attendant by name and knew her kids' names. [2] [3]
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner adapted this novel into a 2009 award-winning feature film starring George Clooney. The film was critically acclaimed and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
The book received some good reviews and initially sold well until September 11, 2001 when sales slowed to a near halt. The cover with a cartoon of flying businesspeople (presumably reminiscent of The Falling Man ) one of them on fire and hurtling earthward also hurt sales. Sales of the book were revived following Jason Reitman's film adaptation. [4]
Mark Kendall Bingham was an American public relations executive who founded his own company, the Bingham Group. During the September 11 attacks in 2001, he was a passenger on board United Airlines Flight 93. Bingham was among the passengers who, along with Todd Beamer, Tom Burnett and Jeremy Glick, formed the plan to retake the plane from the hijackers, and led the effort that resulted in the crash of the plane into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, thwarting the hijackers' plan to crash the plane into a building in Washington, D.C., most likely either the U.S. Capitol Building or the White House.
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for his work in both blockbuster and independent films, he has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award and four Golden Globe Awards. His honors include the Cecil B. DeMille Award, the Honorary César, the AFI Life Achievement Award, and the Kennedy Center Honor.
Christopher Taylor Buckley is an American author and political satirist. He also served as chief speechwriter to Vice President George H. W. Bush. He is known for writing God Is My Broker, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, The White House Mess, No Way to Treat a First Lady, Wet Work, Florence of Arabia, Boomsday, Supreme Courtship, Losing Mum and Pup: A Memoir, and The Judge Hunter.
United 93 is a 2006 docudrama thriller film written and directed by Paul Greengrass. The film largely chronicles the events aboard United Airlines Flight 93, one of the four hijacked flights during the September 11 attacks and the only one not to hit its intended target due to the intervention of passengers and crew; it also covers the experiences of government officials and air traffic controllers watching the other events of the attacks unfold.
The Flight That Fought Back is a docudrama film produced by the London-based company Brook Lapping Productions for the Discovery Channel, about United Airlines Flight 93. The program debuted in the United States on September 11, 2005, marking the fourth anniversary of the event on which it is based.
Jason R. Reitman is a Canadian–American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the films Thank You for Smoking (2005), Juno (2007), Up in the Air (2009), Young Adult (2011), Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), and Saturday Night (2024). He has received one Grammy Award, one Golden Globe and four Academy Award nominations, two of which are for Best Director. Reitman is a dual citizen of Canada and the United States. He is the son of director Ivan Reitman, and known for frequently collaborating with screenwriter Diablo Cody.
Walter Norris Kirn is an American novelist, literary critic, and essayist. He is the author of eight books, most notably Up in the Air, which was made into a film of the same name starring George Clooney.
Up in the Air is a 2009 American comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman. It was written by Reitman and Sheldon Turner, based on the 2001 novel Up in the Air by Walter Kirn. The story is centered on traveling corporate "downsizer" Ryan Bingham. Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, and Jason Bateman also star. Up in the Air was primarily filmed in St. Louis with additional scenes shot in Detroit, Omaha, Las Vegas, and Miami.
The 8th Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards were given on December 7, 2009.
The 13th Toronto Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best in film for 2009, were given on December 16, 2009.
The 75th New York Film Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best in film for 2009, were announced on 14 December 2009 and presented on 11 January 2010.
The 14th San Diego Film Critics Society Awards were announced on December 15, 2009.
The 6th St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards were announced on 15 December and awarded on December 21, 2009.
The 13th Online Film Critics Society Awards, honoring the best in film for 2009, were announced on 5 January 2010.
The 30th London Film Critics Circle Awards, honouring the best in film for 2009, were announced by the London Film Critics Circle on 18 February 2010.
The winners of the 10th Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 2009, were announced on January 11, 2010.
Up in the Air may refer to:
The 22nd Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, given by the CFCA on December 21, 2009, honored the best in film for 2009.
Up in the Air: Music from the Motion Picture is the official soundtrack to the 2009 comedy drama Up in the Air. The album was released on November 9, 2009. The CD version consists of fourteen tracks, while a blue translucent vinyl version was released consisting of 12 tracks. The vinyl version does not contain the tracks "Bust a Move" or "Milwaukee: To the Wedding with a Plus 1". The score to Up in the Air was composed by Rolfe Kent, who recorded his score with a 55-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage. Tony Blondal orchestrated.