Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Up in the Air

2.81 of 5 stars 2.81 · rating details · 2,600 ratings · 495 reviews

Ryan Bingham’s job as a Career Transition Counselor–he fires people–has kept him airborne for years. Although he has come to despise his line of work, he has come to love the culture of what he calls “Airworld,” finding contentment within pressurized cabins, anonymous hotel rooms, and a wardrobe of wrinkle-free slacks. With a letter of resignation sitting on his boss’s des...more

Paperback, 320 pages

Published September 24th 2002 by Anchor (first published July 1st 2001)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

The MOVIE was BETTER than the BOOK

461st out of 694 books — 7,067 voters

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

The movie was better than the book!

7th out of 13 books — 19 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Aug 10, 2011 K.D. Oliveros rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to K.D. by: Po

Shelves: drama

Since graduating from college in 1984, I have been working for 27 years. 8-5 M-F without letup except for the allowed vacation leaves. I rarely take sick leaves since I am a healthy person (except the knee sport-related injury two years ago). I spent all of these 27 years working in multinational companies and I left all the 3 earlier companies around the time of their acquisition by bigger companies. I was in those acquired companies so I knew how it felt to be told that my position was no long...more Since graduating from college in 1984, I have been working for 27 years. 8-5 M-F without letup except for the allowed vacation leaves. I rarely take sick leaves since I am a healthy person (except the knee sport-related injury two years ago). I spent all of these 27 years working in multinational companies and I left all the 3 earlier companies around the time of their acquisition by bigger companies. I was in those acquired companies so I knew how it felt to be told that my position was no longer needed in the resulting new organization.

That’s one of the reasons why I liked this book, Up in the Air by Walter Kirn (born 1962), an American novelist, literary critic and essayist.

When this novel, his fourth, came out in 2001, it received some positive reviews and initially sold well until 9/11 when the sales slowed down to a near halt. The reason? Look at the cover of its first edition:

It has a cartoon of flying businesspeople, one of them on fire and hurtling earthward. Timing sucked, right? Many office workers jumping to their death from the World Trade Center is just too much of a coincidence.

Economic doomsayers say that the 9/11 attack was the start of the economic downfall of the US. I have been feeling the pinch since then because I work for an American multinational company and I have not been asked to travel since November 2009 due to cost cutting.

It’s okay though. I have more time with my family, reading books and even seeing movies. In fact, speaking about movies, while reading this book, one of my two reading buddies, Po, gave me as a birthday present the VCD copy of the 2009 supposedly movie adaptation of the book. It stars George Clooney as the corporate downsizer Ryan Bingham. However, the movie is just 10-20% based on the book. When released in 2009, was given a limited release but it was so good it was later given a wide-release before the end of the same year. Then Clooney was nominated for a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award, BAFTA and an Academy Award for that year’s Best Actor.

The movie was emotionally engaging because it heavily – unlike the book – dealt on corporations downsizing their workforce. There were several scenes – unlike in the book – where Bingham and Natalie Keener (the beautiful Anna Kendrick) were breaking the bad news to the affected employees. It just reminded me of the past 3 companies I worked with when downsizing (in the Philippines, we normally use retrenchment) happened. However, it was only in my first company when I encountered something like Bingham’s job: a counselor that guides the employee through the transition. For me, it was a very good gesture from the company as it really thought of the emotional, not just the financial, impact of losing one’s job in a period of uncertainty due to whatever reason: acquisition, cost cutting, centralization/regionalization of functions or simply world economic depression.

After the successful showing of the movie, the book’s cover was changed and the publisher was smart enough to put the image of George Clooney on the cover and so the sale of the book picked up again. The Oscar-nominated role of Clooney was what attracted me to this book. It was also probably the reason why my friend Po recommended to me that we read this as reading buddies. Or maybe to know more about George Clooney and why, despite being 48 years old (during the showing of the movie), his fans still adored him and voted him as one of the world’s sexiest men alive.

Despite the many differences between the book and the movie, they still share the same theme and message. Downsizer Ryan Bingham, single and spends more time travelling around the USA, lives a sadder life than the downsized employees who have their families to support and comfort them during the transition. The story also encourages the employees who are facing the reality of losing their jobs to look at it as a “rebirth” rather than loss. Rebirth must be seen as a fresh start, i.e., of doing something that they have not done especially if that something is a job that you truly enjoy but you don’t have the time to explore or try it because of your current employment.
(less)

like 18 likes · see review

Dec 07, 2011 Tracie rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: library_book, this-book-blows-goats-i-have-proof

When I picked this up at the library, I was thinking of another book, and I also maybe didn't realize it was fiction, even though I was in the fiction section. (The sections in my local library branch aren't hard and fast rules so much as general suggestions, largely ignored.) I was already a chapter in when I realized it was written by Kirn, who also wrote Thumbsucker, which I also disliked. For me, he's trying way too hard to be Chuck Palahniuk, and since I can barely tolerate Palahniuk actual...more

like 3 likes · see review

May 04, 2010 Peachy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: addiction, humour, made-into-movies, self-help

Up in the Air is not a novel that I would have picked up, had it not been for my desire to see the movie. I seem to cling to an OCDish need to read the book that the movie is based upon before I will allow myself to see it. I can only assume that this is a story preservation tactic, as I trust my imagination and interpretation over some Hollywood producer, and have witnessed the butchering of one too many great books. That being said, I have heard from countless people that in this case, the mov...more

like 3 likes · see review

Mar 28, 2012 Carolyn rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: never-finished, audio

Full disclosure, I think I'm going to stop reading and I'm only 1/3 way through the book. The writing is better than expected (I thought it might've been written after the movie), but the constant internal monologue of such a bleak character is tiresome and slightly depressing.

Ryan reminds me of the older man in Steve Martin's "Shop Girl" -- the rootless, adolescent 50-something guy who has managed to get by on his good looks and business skills but lacks any moral fortitude or long-term relati...more

like · see review

Mar 22, 2012 Cameron rated it 4 of 5 stars

Though it shares only a few plot points with it's movie version, the original book version of Up in the Air is also unique and mesmerizing. It is an incredibly well-molded character study more than it is a cohesive story that heads in a specific direction. And I am alright with that.

The opening of the book begins with the narrator and central character speaking to the reader as if we had the unfortunate luck to be seated next to him on a flight. And, as the narrator begins to expound upon the un...more

like 1 like · see review

Feb 26, 2012 KJ Luepke rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 50-books-a-year-2012, audio-book

Mmmm.... I listened to this book on CD in the car and maybe it was because it was an audio book or maybe it's because I'm unsophisticated but there were a lot of parts where he lost me. I wasn't sure who was saying what at some points, I couldn't quite understand what the main character was running to or running from. Did he enjoy the rat race and was running for higher status in it or was he running away from it? He was focused on making a certain number of flying miles but I was never sure why...more

like 1 like · see review

Nov 30, 2011 Paolo added it

Up in the Air is about a business man named Ryan Bingham. Bingham has a job that requires him to constantly be travelling. His most common for of transportation is by flight. He is spends the majority of his time sitting in an airplane seat. This is one of the “perks” that comes along with his job. His position is called a Career Transition Counselor, which is pretty much a fancy name for someone who fires people from their job. In the first chapter, he tries and describes the type of person h...more
Up in the Air is about a business man named Ryan Bingham. Bingham has a job that requires him to constantly be travelling. His most common for of transportation is by flight. He is spends the majority of his time sitting in an airplane seat. This is one of the “perks” that comes along with his job. His position is called a Career Transition Counselor, which is pretty much a fancy name for someone who fires people from their job. In the first chapter, he tries and describes the type of person he is to the reader. The first line of the book states, “To know me you have to fly with me.” Bingham has a very lonesome lifestyle. He is distantly acquainted with his family, and has few close friends. Rarely ever has close and meaningful relationships with anyone. He talks about how he considers the stewards and stewardesses of airplanes, the maids and workers of hotels, and the people he sits next to on trips, to be his friends. He takes pills for depression and in his spare time likes to party in Vegas. Bingham’s main goal in the book is to reach a total of 1,000,000 Flyer miles. When he achieves that, he will be able to fly anywhere in the world for free.
This book relates well to my exploration topic of social interactions and having close relationships. From the other books I’ve read, the characters are fighting for their special someone. Whereas in Up in the Air, Bingham doesn’t try hard to keep a relationship going, like he doesn’t put a lot of effort into it. He becomes involved with a woman named Alex, but not in a courting way, but they are more like a “let’s get together for the weekend” type of couple. Bingham later discovers that she had kids and a family, so any chances of them being together was diminished. Bingham, sad to say, has a rather dull, boring, and uneventful life.
Overall, I didn’t think much of this book. It was quite bland and lacking in intriguing me. So unfortunately, I didn’t really enjoy it that much. However, that is probably just the way the tone of the book was supposed to be. Since Ryan Bingham’s life was in itself, pretty boring. I felt a little disappointed because I was expecting the book to be very good considering how well liked the movie was. I honestly wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone, unless maybe you were a lonely travelling businessman and could relate to Bingham’s story. (less)

like · see review

Jul 22, 2011 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel

You know me, if I see a movie I am even remotely interested in, I'll pick up the book. And hello, George Clooney and Jason Reitman (have actually seen all his movies and really like them a lot), how wrong can you get? I doubt I'll see this movie in the theatre because of my non-movie kick at the moment, but I am sure I'll get to it eventually. Anyway, so I picked up the book. I actually read something from this guy just a few weeks back and I hate it which should have been the first sign for thi...more

like 1 like · see review

May 25, 2011 Kate rated it 3 of 5 stars

I watched and enjoyed the movie version of this story. Ryan Bingham--in the movie--was a frustrated businessman trying to navigate Airworld and Real World. He experienced joy, pain, and had the ability to grow and change. He is able to find context and meaning from his interactions with other people. He falls in love and finds out that it wasn't real. His character has an arc.

Ryan Bingham in Walter Kirn's book has no arc, only the downward trajectory of a crashing Boeing 747. His character spir...more

like 1 like · see review

Mar 28, 2011 Penandra rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is one of those rare times when I am grateful tht I saw the movie before reading the book. Had I read the book first, I probably would not have gone to see the movie. Having seen the movie first, I HAD to read the book!

As someone who was on the road for 40 weeks out of the year for more than five years, I could identify with the Ryan Bingham character, the choices he makes, the way he lives his life, where he gets his mail, his rental cars, the whole enchilada. I loved the movie. Thus, I ha...more

like 1 like · see review

Jan 20, 2011 Larry Buhl rated it 3 of 5 stars

I have a love-hate relationship with this book. I love the idea of it, but hate the execution. I guess that means I should hate it. I'm giving it three stars anyway.

Brave of Walter Kirn to telegraph, through the narrator, that the book has no plot. He says this as he's leaning over to comment on a seatmate's choice of reading material on one of his many flights.

I like bleak, black comedies, though I'm not sure this qualifies as a comedy. More of a stream of unconsciousness musing from a lost,...more

like 2 likes · see review

Nov 05, 2010 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars

I picked up this surprisingly good book because it was in the thrift store, I was about to go on a trip, and I thought the movie was okay. What I liked most about the film were the constant mundane details of business travel. I like cozy little details. I like familiar situations. I like airplanes. All those things are in the book. But if you liked the movie a lot, don't bother with the book. If you loved the goopy (yes, goopy) adult comedy-drama that made it to the screen, you'll hate this inte...more

like 2 likes · see review

Nov 02, 2010 Tiger rated it 3 of 5 stars

To be honest, the reason I chose this book is just because the movie adaption of the same title of this novel since we all know the basic concept that: the film adaption seldom overwhelms its original text one. So what an exciting novel it would be since the film adaption has already been on an Oskar Nominee level. However, after few chapters reading, I quickly found that the huge gap between the book and the movie. Although this novel is not a better text-presentation of the movie adaption, it...more To be honest, the reason I chose this book is just because the movie adaption of the same title of this novel since we all know the basic concept that: the film adaption seldom overwhelms its original text one. So what an exciting novel it would be since the film adaption has already been on an Oskar Nominee level. However, after few chapters reading, I quickly found that the huge gap between the book and the movie. Although this novel is not a better text-presentation of the movie adaption, it still contains comprehensive ideas worthy to think about it.
The whole story is surrounded the life of a crazy, sophisticated, isolated career transition counsellor called Ryan Bingham. He showed his distinct characteristics even from the first sentence of the novel “To know we, you should fly with me.” He is such a usual business guy with most of the time flying around the country. What he is unique is that instead of enduring the boring flying routine, he actually enjoyed the life on the planes, in the airports or the hotels. He did not have a so-called home and regarded his home in the air. As the most important plot of the novel, Ryan is seeking to his goal to earn one million flier miles. For fulfilling his goal as soon as possible, he grasped every single time to save his miles. And during his constant flying, he met many different people and even got a vague relationship with a business woman called Alex. The story ends at the time that he made his aim to come true.
Despite the relevance of the movie “Up in the Air”, the most intriguing thing to me is that this is a book to reveal the realistic business life in nowadays world. I would like to know more about the lifestyle of the business since I know that sooner or later I am going to be one of them. Someone suggests this dark satire on business field. I would agree on that. As Ryan described himself, “...cross the terminal, smile at the agent, say Yes, my bags have remained in my possession, say No, I haven’t let strangers handle them...” These same old same old routines accompany with most of business man’s lives. So when reading these lines, I could even view the image of my future life to be in business field. Would that be boring as the continuous away of home? Would that be lonely that if staying in different hotels all the time? Would that be irritating to let some companies like Great West to decided what I am going to eat or where I am going to live? Would that be shame to visit family members only during Christmas or New Year? Instead of saying this novel disappoints me on the perfect business field image, I prefer treating that an alarm to inform me with some problems of the business field.
Also since the relationship is also one of the significant theme of this novel. We could view many different types of relationship between the protagonist Ryan and people surrounding him. His indifferent relationship with his family, his vague somehow chemical relationship with Alex, or even his social relationships with strangers in his travelling impress me a lot. Moreover, while showing his ability to connect the entire US, he is not good at connecting with anyone else such as his sister or even his mother.
And the ending that Ryan donated all his precious miles to children’s hospitals reminds me the character development or transition. He finally found that his goal to earn the miles is meaningless and also his live up in the air is not only about the miles. The miles he earned is just a number, but what he actually needed to deal with is his real life.
For sure this novel is not 100% perfect one. As far as I’m concerned, this is not a plot-driven novel since there are too many redundant information in the novel and the plot seems wander away all the time. This would definitely bother my thoughts and decrease my enthusiasm to finish the novel. Besides I could not get many of the satires in the novel although it is the remarkable point of this novel.
(less)

like · see review

Aug 10, 2010 Crystal rated it 3 of 5 stars

Like most, I'm assuming, I have both read and watched the movie adaptation of this story. They are two incredibly different experiences, and I'm surprised to find that I prefer the visual interpretation of Kirn's novel than the actual text. That's not to say, however, that I didn't enjoy this book, although I must assert that it's not for everyone. It's so subtly satirical and has several moments of brilliance. The protagonist (Ryan Bingham/George Clooney) is such a bitter and inwardly wizened c...more

like 2 likes · see review

Aug 09, 2010 Sue rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Ryan Bingham portrayed in the movie by our hero George Clooney--his confident, airy presence, his attractiveness, pursuits and un-ordinariness--are nothing like the Ryan Bingham in this book. The two seem to be completely separate people.

The voice of this novel is a guy you’ve seen a hundred times, and never once noticed. He’s the guy who chats with you during your Minneapolis to Wichita flight, the guy you see at the hotel bar sitting by himself, talking to the bartender. He’s the guy eatin...more The Ryan Bingham portrayed in the movie by our hero George Clooney--his confident, airy presence, his attractiveness, pursuits and un-ordinariness--are nothing like the Ryan Bingham in this book. The two seem to be completely separate people.

The voice of this novel is a guy you’ve seen a hundred times, and never once noticed. He’s the guy who chats with you during your Minneapolis to Wichita flight, the guy you see at the hotel bar sitting by himself, talking to the bartender. He’s the guy eating alone. Little do we know that his world is the one in which he exists, the one he calls AirWorld. That, alone, gives him one of the most compelling voices in the books I’ve read lately. It’s almost like a view into how other people live, but not those unrealistic people who have unlimited money, beauty and fame. Rather, it’s the everyday Joe who has no connection to others, or maybe a connection that is pulled so thin it feels like none at all.

That other-ness is what I felt throughout this book. Adding to the feeling that Ryan gives us is the dual specter of two presences. One is the company MythTech. They exist, we think, but where? Who works for them, and are they recruiting Ryan? Is he auditioning before an unseen audience? Are they sending out “feelers”? Do they even know he exists? The second is the disembodied and the never-seen-but-lurking CEO of the airline of which Ryan is trying to gain 1M frequent flyer miles. Are they helping him or sabotaging his goal? Have they tagged him like a wildlife specimen, examining his movements and choices? These two, along with a multitude of sad, unbalanced and downright bizarre characters give this book a surreal feel.

Racing along to catch up with his frenzied pace and manic itinerary, we see a man who is simultaneously focused and empty. His life is full of half-starts and uncompleted projects, all with a veneer of business-speak. He’s chasing a goal you wonder if he’s even all that interested in, but he’s been chasing it so long it has taken on a life of its own. He’s an intriguing character, and I enjoyed the glimpse into his life.
(less)

like 2 likes · see review

Jul 26, 2010 Ms. B rated it 2 of 5 stars

I’m not sure what to say about Up in the Air. I think I expected a lot or maybe I just expected something. Mr. Kirn writes amazing well- but that is it. It wasn’t an amazing story, the characters weren’t very compelling. Everything, but the writing was just sort of “ehhhh.” And I’m going to be honest, when I read a depressing story – I don’t want ehhhh. I want dramatic, compelling, intense and interesting – and well, Up in the Air wasn’t that. There are many people who seem to love this story an...more

like 1 like · see review

Jun 20, 2010 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature

Unlike apparently everyone else on GoodReads, I liked this novel. Kirn has a smart, witty prose style, and the novel is an interesting combination of Bildungsroman and corporate satire, with a dash of thriller as well. There seem to be very few excellent books about the corporate world, and while I wouldn't call this one excellent, it's thoughtful and provocative, as well as a fun read. The surface snark, including some good material about the nonsense of business books and management consulting...more

like 1 like · see review

Apr 19, 2010 Al rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read this book when it was published in 2001, and liked it, but didn't remember much about it. So when I saw the movie and didn't remember some of the things in it, I decided to reread the book. Note to prospective readers: as is (too) often the case, the movie is nothing like the book, except that the protagonist/main character lives a nomadic and weightless existence in a job where he spends all his time flying, and seemingly thrives on it. The movie is fine as a standalone movie, but it fai...more

like · see review

Apr 19, 2010 Ashley rated it 2 of 5 stars

The whole premise of the books is Ryan Bingham travels for work...like TRAVELING is his job...he goes to companies, fires people for them, and then counsels them on how being fired is just an opportunity to find your passion. He's thisclose to acquiring 1 million frequent flier miles, and wants to attain that goal before his boss comes back from vacay and finds Ryan's resignation on his desk

I hate being confused by the ending of books, because I generally think I am en excellent reader. But this...more

like 4 likes · see review

Mar 31, 2010 Justin rated it 2 of 5 stars

Saw Jason Reitman's film adaptation in the theater, which I rarely do (see films in the theater, that is... though oddly I've seen all of Reitman's films in the theater), and was intrigued enough by the premise (if not the film itself) to give the book a try.

It's weird reading a book after you've seen the movie version of it. Our modern cinematic minds make it difficult for us to strip away all visual and aural context and experience the story in its pure narrative form. Kirn's book is pretty we...more Saw Jason Reitman's film adaptation in the theater, which I rarely do (see films in the theater, that is... though oddly I've seen all of Reitman's films in the theater), and was intrigued enough by the premise (if not the film itself) to give the book a try.

It's weird reading a book after you've seen the movie version of it. Our modern cinematic minds make it difficult for us to strip away all visual and aural context and experience the story in its pure narrative form. Kirn's book is pretty well written, pretty entertaining, and yet something in it was missing for me. I wonder if I was enjoying it less because it didn't pop as much without George Clooney's face looming before me as I reveled in the mile-high exploits of his Ryan Bingham character.

Kirn's original protagonist is far more cynical than Clooney's wry, constantly smiling on-screen counterpart. In the novel, Bingham seems pretty miserable to boot, kind of impotent in a way, on a literal and spiritual level. The love interest of the movie is barely an afterthought in the book, and Bingham's attempts to "get intimate" with her are largely failures. Many of the plot points that fueled Reitman's adaptation are missing in the book as well, most glaringly that whole bit about Bingham's company entering the new age via digital firing technology. This is probably because Kirn wrote his book in 2000, when people were only kind of cynical about the advent of the internet on corporate America, and also probably because Kirn is a much more reflective writer than mainstream Hollywood film allows for, and is more interested in ruminating on the nuances of Bingham's shiny, sterile business universe than he is on driving the story along. In fact, not much really happens in Kirn's book. Bingham tries to help his engaged sister (like he does in the movie) but there is no last-minute Hollywood wedding save, and he never becomes a hero. What Reitman preserved best from this book is its breezy, airy tone. Kirn is an extremely amiable, pleasant author, and while we don't like Bingham much by the end of the book, we like his voice—his voice keeps us in it. That's pretty much how the movie got us hooked, too—that and Clooney's face of course.(less)

like 6 likes · see review

Feb 21, 2010 Heidi rated it 2 of 5 stars

It took me several days to read this book, although it could easily be done in one sitting, which might have been better (many characters, many plot threads). I cannot say this a book that will delight the reader, but I will say the anxiety it begins to create is palpable as you press on toward the end.

It is certainly a timely book, given the main character's career path and I felt it depicted the world of corporate self-help perfectly. It was both sad and disturbing. I remember thinking that it...more

like 3 likes · see review

Feb 15, 2010 Christopher rated it 4 of 5 stars

I approached this book from the reverse of many, in that I've read the book but haven't as yet seen the film. I first learned of it while watching Walter Kirn on CSPAN's "Q&A" where the discussion largely involved his most recent book, his memoir "Lost in the Meritocracy." I found Kirn compelling, initially because we are contemporaries in age, and in our similar upbringings (from small town to big-city), and because of his manner of conversing, which is courtly yet direct in an honest, Midw...more

like · see review

Jan 24, 2010 Vijay rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: escapism

I start my review with a digression. I read and saw the movie "Up in the Air" (in that order) around the same time as the release of the Hindi movie "3 idiots" which is inspired from Chetan Bhagath's "5 point someone". The professionalism with which the book to movie adaptation has been done with "Up in the Air" puts the Bollywood junta and Bhagath in bad light. I think the respective movie makers' approach to the material has been similar. They have taken the essence of a novel and spun their o...more I start my review with a digression. I read and saw the movie "Up in the Air" (in that order) around the same time as the release of the Hindi movie "3 idiots" which is inspired from Chetan Bhagath's "5 point someone". The professionalism with which the book to movie adaptation has been done with "Up in the Air" puts the Bollywood junta and Bhagath in bad light. I think the respective movie makers' approach to the material has been similar. They have taken the essence of a novel and spun their own story around it, making it appeal to a different medium. "Up in the Air" succeeds in the professionalism front - author credited properly, movie-book tie-ins, author lets the movie hold its own and is happy in his place. Now I am not sure if Chetan Bhagath was compensated properly but the acriminous tussle with the movie makers post "3 idiots"' release has revealed how much of catching up the Indian entertainers have to do in the legal front of adapting books.
===
I bought the book in an airport. I even mentioned to the sales lady - "seems appropriate for the place". Leafing through the preface, I noticed that a couple of other novels by Walter Kirn have also made it to the Hollywood mainstream and they are already in my Netflix list without me being accurately aware of it - have been there for a while now. I finished the first half of the book in record time - I was mesmerized by the materialistic pursuit of Ryan Bingham. His career is an extraordinary one. A lay-off specialist. A good job to have if you love not staying in one place and make more acquaintances than relationships. While he is flying from one city to another he has a couple of siblings, who, through phone calls, try and keep him grounded. The lifestyle of Ryan Bingham is fascinating as much as it is repulsive to a 'family man'. Loved the character's personal quirks of having a new word a day and also the detached outlook on everyone and everything coming his way.The one thing that he is not detached from and is actually pursuing with great interest is his million miles reward with a certain airlines. At some point in this nonstop travelogue he steps into Vegas and that's where the book stopped working for me. A sort of psychedelic incoherence seeps into both the character's mental state as wells as the writing. the end is bitter-sweet but by that time I was going through the motions of just finishing the book.
It is a good commentary on jet-setters with no roots and I believe I can recollect a few of my own acquaintances who are like that.
===
The movie also centers around the Ryan Bingham character as well and his quest for a frequent flier reward - 10 million miles this time. The support cast is a little different and far more entertaining than the book. The twist in the movie, which Wifey can't stop talking about, is quick and dirty. George Clooney is perfect for the role. The end in the movie is not a mortal one as it was in the book - at least not of the same kind - but manages to circle back to the beginning of the movie. I like that.
(less)

like 1 like · see review

Jan 09, 2010 Joe rated it 4 of 5 stars

One of the few satisfactions left to readers in this world, besides 20 cent used books on Amazon, is the earned ability to tell someone that you haven't seen the movie because you read the book. And oh, you wouldn't want to spoil the book. With Up in the Air, you can say this without lying to yourself.

Kirn takes an easily mockable industry (how many Seinfeld episodes have ridiculed airport pick-ups and the absurdities of flying?) and makes something artistically alive. Ever hopeful to get his m...more One of the few satisfactions left to readers in this world, besides 20 cent used books on Amazon, is the earned ability to tell someone that you haven't seen the movie because you read the book. And oh, you wouldn't want to spoil the book. With Up in the Air, you can say this without lying to yourself.

Kirn takes an easily mockable industry (how many Seinfeld episodes have ridiculed airport pick-ups and the absurdities of flying?) and makes something artistically alive. Ever hopeful to get his millionth mile, Robert Bingham hopskotches across American as an outplacement consultant. From the movie trailers it seems like he fires people, but his job is more subtle than that, and relevant. One of the unexplored byproducts of the recession is the post-layoff consulting company that boosts the erstwhile employee's morale and spends weeks and sometimes months helping him/her craft a game plan. Other than its gimmick-driven plot and overflowing travel bag of pop references (a visit to Omaha necessitates the obligatory mention of Warren Buffet's name)the novel fails only by holding up the pretense that this kind of work doesn't help people. That it tricks people somehow into thinking they are more worth their salt than they really are. But is it wrong to pay for confidence?

Bingham lives in Airworld, as its called, but much of the book has a more earthbound feel. RElaxing in airport lounges, driving to and fro for quick meetings, Bingham loves the lifestyle of air travel but he doesn't seem to relish being 30,000 feet up. It's the extras. Rental cars and reliable hotel rooms with the corners tucked in. Meaningless trysts with random women. He loves cheap hotel room hot tubs, not stowing away his luggage in an overhead compartment. While indifferent to turbulence, he often imagines crashing.

A blurb says the book "lambasts corporate culture" and in some ways it does (the stupidly gnomic titles of business jargon like "The business of business" and biz lit) but mostly it shows that someone can love the lifestyle, so get over it.

His ardor for flying flags somewhat, but that's what he lives for, and that along with his airy musings and observations make him perhaps the most interesting one-dimensional character I've ever come across.

Kirn wrote a touching, sad, funny and at times hilarious story. It won't make you want to fly, but maybe that's the point. That, and saving money on movie popcorn.(less)

like 3 likes · see review

Dec 31, 2009 Leslie rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book sucks! It's written in stream of consciousness, like "Ulysses" and a few others of note. Boring! Little plot, and an ending that came from somewhere in another planet. Ryan Bingham has placed an inflammatory note on his boss's desk that he knows will get him fired when the boss returns on Friday. Meanwhile, he's got plans all laid out to have 1,000,000 frequent flyer miles, his ultimate goal in life, before he gets fired. Yes, his life is that vacuous. He does give a good description o...more

like · see review

Dec 29, 2009 Dave rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fiction

For those thinking of extending a pleasant movie experience, put this book away.

The only thing that kept me from giving this book less than 2 stars were imagining George Clooney as the main character and the ending which somewhat ties things together. Otherwise this book is everything the movie is not - it doesn't put any energy into the main character's career, the main character is not happy, the main character is not mentoring anybody, much less a pleasant and spunky young go-getter. Perhaps...more

like 4 likes · see review

Aug 07, 2009 Meghan rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book is super, super oddball. Half the time it is like, breathless slalom race to crazy! And to be honest that is kind of fun, and things open up a whole lot in the chapters Ryan spends with his sister. Like, a lot, like, if at that point the book had morphed into a road-trip novel, no complaints here. But overall there is so much noodle-throwing at the direction of an over-corporate America, you know, that kind of thing is really exhausting. Really wears on a reader, particularly because K...more

like 3 likes · see review

Mar 26, 2010 Katherine Granich rated it 2 of 5 stars

Caveat: I haven't seen the movie. But from the trailer, it looks like they didn't keep too much of the plot of this book... The main character and his chasing of a million airpoints, yes, but the character that's played by that girl from Twilight? Nada. And since she was nominated for a BSA at this year's Oscars, I'm guessing that part was pretty important to the film.

Maybe if she'd existed in the book, I would have liked it better. It wasn't *bad*, it just didn't really leave me with any compel...more

like · see review

Jan 08, 2010 Andtruth Danielson rated it 3 of 5 stars

I saw the movie of this first, and could not get George Clooney's cadence out of my head even after it was established that the book is quite different; Ryan is from Minnesota, but I can't see any George Clooney character as being from anywhere but New York. The caustic observations he makes in the book sound way more East Coast than Minnesotan to me. But that's okay, since one of the points of the book is that people who fly from city to city all the time their own culture, based on the airport...more

like · see review

Jul 06, 2012 Jinny (SkyInk.net) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, business

Yeah, I got the book with the movie poster cover :( Not a big fan of movie poster covers, but it was what was available (I bought this from a thrift store). Anyway.

I hadn't seen the movie before reading the book, though I did watch it after reading the book. They're really quite different as they focus on different themes and have different plots and that character Anna Kendrick plays isn't even in the novel, so there's hardly a point in comparing the two. However, it was from seeing the trailer...more Yeah, I got the book with the movie poster cover :( Not a big fan of movie poster covers, but it was what was available (I bought this from a thrift store). Anyway.

I hadn't seen the movie before reading the book, though I did watch it after reading the book. They're really quite different as they focus on different themes and have different plots and that character Anna Kendrick plays isn't even in the novel, so there's hardly a point in comparing the two. However, it was from seeing the trailer of the movie that got me interested in the book in the first place.

Up In The Air is about Ryan Bingham, who works for CTC -- Career Transition Counselling. He helps people who have been laid off reassess their strengths and weaknesses and find new hope in their unemployment. Or, in other words, Ryan fires people for a living and tries to get the ex-employees to not do anything crazy like sue the company. Ryan doesn't really like his job, but he does like collecting frequent flyer miles points. In fact, his goal is to collect one million points, and he's really close. He plans to quit his job, work for his dream company in a dream job and write a book after it's all said and done. But his last week of flying is somehow really stressing him out -- he's not sure what his dream company even really does or how to contact them, his potential publisher won't stay in one spot and his flighty sister who is about to get married soon is driving him up the wall.

First things first, I loved the writing style of this book. It's present tense, first person narrator, and Ryan speaks to you like he's holding a conversation with you. Which does include the occasional tangent, but they're interesting and more often than not, rather funny. I really loved the way the author wrote and spoke to his reader, even within the witty remarks and black humor, it was seriously fun writing.

The book starts off great, I was really into it. However, somewhere near the last third of the book, the story got kind of ... weird. I was following along fine, and then all of a sudden, I became really confused, like I wasn't sure if I was reading anything correctly. I think Ryan was on drugs at one point and, as he was the narrator, it messed up what he was experiencing so as the reader, I was also getting really confused. I think everything started going wrong for him so he started taking some drugs, or started admitting to the reader he was taking drugs ... ? But I'm not really sure if he was on drugs, maybe he was just going insane. He seemed to be losing his marbles. I just had no idea what was happening anymore, and I can't really tell you how the book ended because, well, I don't know. I read it, but I don't know what I read.

Despite the ending kind of falling apart on me there, I did enjoy this book a lot, especially the writing.(less)

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (27)

More editions...

Genres

Contemporary

16 users

Travel

16 users

Business

11 users

Media Tie In > Movies

9 users

Economics

6 users

Literary Fiction

5 users

Novels

4 users

Adult Fiction

4 users

Realistic Fiction

3 users

Adult

3 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Walter Kirn

Walter Kirn is a regular reviewer for The New York Times Book Review, and his work appears in The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, Vogue, Time, New York, GQ and Esquire. He is the author of six previous works of fiction: My Hard Bargain: Stories, She Needed Me, Thumbsucker, Up in the Air, Mission to America and The Unbinding. Kirn is a graduate of Princeton University and attended Oxford on...more

More about Walter Kirn...

Books by Walter Kirn

Lost in the Meritocracy: The Undereducation of an Overachiever

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Up in the Air

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Up in the Air

“Just breathing can be such a luxury sometimes.” — 9 people liked it

“He knows, as all the cleverest ones do, that no human being is so interesting that he can't make himself more interesting still by acting retarded at random intervals. ” — 9 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Up in the Air
avg rating	preview: Up in the Air Goodreads rating: 2.81 (2600 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30680.Up_in_the_Air?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347719428l/30680.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30680.Up_in_the_Air?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Up in the Air by Walter Kirn[/url]

Up in the Air

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website