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Dec 07, 2011

Tracie rated it:

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...

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Jul 29, 2011

Peachy rated it:

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 More...

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Dec 21, 2011

Ben rated it:

Let's be clear: the novel Up in the Air has, at most, a superficial relationship with the movie it inspired and, as original as the Ryan Bingham character may be, the truly surprising achievement here is that the movie is actually better than the novel. The writing in Up in the Air lacks depth and resonance, flaunting instead a flimsy sort of style filled with corporate jargon and knowing winks at the pointlessness of corporate jargon; it's all very phony. The characters aren't quite two-dimen More...

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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 More...

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Jul 22, 2011

Rebecca rated it:

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...

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May 25, 2011

Kate rated it:

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 char More...

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Mar 28, 2011

Penandra rated it:

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. More...

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Jan 20, 2011

Larry rated it:

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 More...

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Nov 05, 2010

Lisa rated it:

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...

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Nov 02, 2010

Tiger rated it:

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...

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Aug 10, 2010

Crystal rated it:

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 More...

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Aug 09, 2010

Sue rated it:

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’ More...

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Jul 26, 2010

Ms. B rated it:

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 st More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jun 20, 2010

Mark rated it:

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 consult More...

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Apr 19, 2010

Al rated it:

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 More...

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Apr 19, 2010

Ashley rated it:

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 rea More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Mar 31, 2010

Justin rated it:

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 More...

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Feb 21, 2010

Heidi rated it:

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 thinki More...

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Feb 15, 2010

Christopher rated it:

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 More...

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Jan 24, 2010

Vijay rated it:

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 More...

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Jan 09, 2010

Joe rated it:

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 hope More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Dec 31, 2009

Leslie rated it:

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 g More...

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Dec 29, 2009

Dave rated it:

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-get More...

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Aug 07, 2009

Meghan rated it:

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...

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Mar 26, 2010

Katherine rated it:

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 wit More...

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Jan 08, 2010

Andtruth rated it:

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 airpo More...

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Jul 22, 2010

Eimear rated it:

If you enjoyed the film, I wouldn't recommend this book at all. The two are worlds apart, which thankfully means the film is actually quite enjoyable.

Not even having George Clooney narrating in your head can make this Ryan Bingham likeable. Even though it's quite a short book which, you'd think you could finish quite quickly, I struggled with it for a long time. After finishing each chapter I found no desire to read the next one and eventually abandoned it for a few months.

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Jul 13, 2010

Carl added it

If prevalence of disorientation is your theme, how much disorientation can you get away with using? Can you devolve into gibberish and say it was what you meant to do all along? (Memo to David Foster Wallace.)

Kirn's novel is based on a great concept, and it's not too much, given the relevance of postmodernism. He's somewhere between assuredness and arrogance -- closer to the former in this book, to the latter in his irritating memoir Lost in the Meritocracy. His ruminations on busine More...

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Jan 23, 2010

Andrea rated it:

First 200 pages, five stars. Rest of book, two stars. I rarely buy books because of movies, but considering I was browsing this in the airport after having just booked a 4-city itinerary eerily similar to the intro in the book, I thought there just might be something here I could relate to.

And there was... to a point. Kirn's "Airworld" is dead on, as are his characters' interactions with it and their consultants lifestyle. There were many things I could relate to in protagoni More...

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Oct 19, 2009

Ken rated it:

The story of Ryan Bingham (no relation to the alt country singer) criss-crossing the United States to achieve his goal of 1 million frequent flyer miles, is frantic, funny, and seemingly pointless. But a closer look reveals a man with a mission. Throughout Ryan's journey Walter Kirn provides sharp commentary on corporate america, motivational speakers, and consultants (to name a few). His writing is smartly fast-paced like a good Howard Hawks or Preston Sturges screenplay. Pay attention or More...

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