Up in the Air, Walter Kirn
Up in the Air, Walter Kirn
List: $20.00 | Sale: $14.00
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Up in the Air

Author: Walter Kirn

Narrator: Sean Runnette

Unabridged: 9 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/24/2009

Synopsis

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 desk, and the hope of a job with a mysterious consulting firm, Ryan Bingham is agonizingly close to his ultimate goal, his Holy Grail: one million frequent flier miles. But before he achieves this long-desired freedom, conditions begin to deteriorate.

With perception, wit, and wisdom, Up in the Air combines brilliant social observation with an acute sense of the psychic costs of our rootless existence, and confirms Walter Kirn as one of the most savvy chroniclers of American life.

About The Author

WALTER KIRN is a contributing editor to Time and GQ and a regular reviewer for the New York Times Book Review. His work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the New York Times Book Review, GQ, Vogue, New York, and Esquire. He is the author of four previous works of fiction: My Hard Bargain: Stories, She Needed Me, Thumbsucker, and Up in the Air. He lives in Livingston, Montana.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Fabian on December 08, 2019

Early on in "Air," Kirn feebly mentions something about a novel having no plot. Obviously, it's made clear soon enough that what you carry in your very hands is one such novel. "Plotless" to me is an intriguing adventure (heck, I've tried my hand at this type of experiment for my thesis)-- & even Sn......more

Goodreads review by Mohamed on July 23, 2020

How is difficult, hurtful, and rude to fire someone!......more

Goodreads review by Isabella on December 08, 2024

I bought my well worn paperback copy of Walter Kirn's Up in the Air because I've watched the movie years prior. I was curious to see what were the difference between the novel and the movie if they are any and how the book was in general because the movie was a character centric film that I do belie......more

Goodreads review by Justin on March 31, 2010

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 se......more

Goodreads review by Ashley on April 19, 2010

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 a......more

Quotes

“A dead-on, wry portrait of the life of the road warrior.” –Rudy Maxa, The Washington Post

“[A] hilarious, often ingenious ode to America.. . . . Whip smart yet entertaining enough to rival anything from John Grisham.” –Julia Dahl, Time Out New York

“Kirn’s style is as bright and metallic as the shiny skin of a jet airplane. But his underlying point is refreshingly down to earth.” –John Gallagher, Chicago Tribune

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