George Clooney takes to "Air"

By Jay A. Fernandez and Borys Kit

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - George Clooney is in talks to star in "Up in the Air," an adaptation of the 2001 Walter Kirn novel, with Oscar-nominated "Juno" director Jason Reitman behind the camera.

The Oscar-winning actor will play an unapologetic corporate downsizer whose untethered life is consumed with collecting air miles.

Reitman, whose feature debut was the satire "Thank You for Smoking," has been working on his adaptation of Kirn's book over the past five years.

Clooney stars in the Coen brothers' farce "Burn After Reading," which premiered Wednesday as the opening-night selection of the Venice Film Festival.

Kirn also wrote the novel "Thumbsucker," which writer-director Mike Mills adapted into a film in 2005.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter