Actor George Clooney is negotiating to star in Up in the Air, an upcoming film adaptation of the novel written by Walter Kirn.

Thank You for Smoking and Juno director, Jason Reitman, is set to direct the film.

Up in the Air is centered on a businessman, Ryan Bingham, who is obsessed with earning one million frequent-flyer miles before he gets fired from the company he works for (in which he coincidentally fires people for a living). At the same time, he is trying to get a job with another company, MythTech, which is notorious for keeping its company information a secret.

When Reitman finally completed the script, which took him nearly five years, Clooney was the first actor he showed it to, according to Variety.

Reitman also turned to colleague and friend Sheldon Turner, who wrote the screenplays for The Longest Yard (2005) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, for help with the screenplay.

Kirn saw his first novel-to-film adaptation on the big screen in 2005 with his book, Thumbsucker, starring Lou Taylor Pucci, Vincent D’Onofrio, Tilda Swinton and Vince Vaughn.

The film was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature and its lead actor, Lou Taylor Pucci, won several awards, including Sundance’s Special Jury Prize for Dramatic Acting.

Source: WENN