Thesis Paragraph: Up in the Air

Walter Kim’s Up in the Air chronicles the experiences of Ryan Bingham, a middle class businessman who travels the country working as a career transition counselor.  This book, published in July 2001, focuses on the experience of the common businessman trying to succeed in the rat race of the corporate world.  In 2009, “Up in the Air” was released as a movie, but with some minor alterations that reflect the changes in American business during that time period.  After the book was published in 2001, America was plunged into a time of war and economic downturn.  In order to survive the economic struggle of the times, the focus of every company became to increase efficiency and cut cost.  From coast to coast, countless men and women faced the foreboding feeling of corporate downsizing, foreign outsourcing and technological advances that would lead them to the unemployment line.  While the book focused primarily on Ryan Bingham’s experience as an individual, the movie brought a new perspective to the audience by highlighting the effects of Ryan Bingham’s actions on the business community at large.  What began as an egocentric tale of a businessman’s desire for success regardless of the cost, broadened to a social commentary on the effects of this same impulse in the hands of corporate America.  

Helpful review of Film, "Up In the Air" http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/movies/04upinair.html

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