View source for Walter Kirn

{{short description|American novelist}}

{{Infobox person
| name               = Walter Kirn
| image              = Walter Kirn on The Virtual Memories Show.jpg
| alt                = A black-and-white photograph of Walter Kirn
| caption            = Kirn on March 1, 2015
| birth_name         = Walter Norris Kirn
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1962|8|3|mf=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Akron, Ohio]], U.S.
| other_names        = 
| known_for          = 
| occupation         = {{flatlist|
* Novelist
* literary critic
* essayist
}}
| education          = [[Princeton University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|AB]])<br>[[Oxford University]]
| awards             = 
| notable_works      = ''[[Up in the Air (novel)|Up in the Air]]''
| website            = [https://www.walterkirn.com/ walterkirn.com/]
| spouse             = Penelope Locke (divorced)<br>Maggie McGuane (divorced)<br>Amanda Fortini
| children           = 2
}}
'''Walter Norris Kirn''' (born August 3, 1962)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mormonlit.byu.edu/lit_author.php?a_id=1505|title=Walter Kirn|date=c. 2003|work=Mormon Literature Database|publisher=Brigham Young University|access-date=June 30, 2010|archive-date=December 7, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207123826/http://mormonlit.byu.edu/lit_author.php?a_id=1505|url-status=dead}}</ref> is an American [[novelist]], [[literary criticism|literary critic]], and [[essay]]ist. He is the author of eight books, most notably ''[[Up in the Air (novel)|Up in the Air]]'', which was made into a [[Up in the Air (2009 film)|film of the same name]] starring [[George Clooney]].

==Education==
Kirn graduated with an A.B. in English from [[Princeton University]] in 1983 after completing a 22-page-long senior thesis entitled "Entangling Breaths (Poems)."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kirn|first=Walter Norris|date=1983|title=Entangling Breaths (Poems)|url=http://dataspace.princeton.edu/jspui/handle/88435/dsp01k06988887}}</ref> Following that, he obtained a second undergraduate degree in English Literature at [[Oxford University]], where he was a Keasbey Memorial Foundation Scholar.<ref>{{cite web 
| url = http://www.c-span.org/video/?287039-1/qa-walter-kirn
| title = Walter Kirn 
| access-date = 2014-11-22
}}</ref>

==Writing==

Kirn has published a collection of short stories and several novels. These include ''[[Thumbsucker (novel)|Thumbsucker]]'' (1999), which was made into a 2005 film featuring [[Keanu Reeves]] and [[Vince Vaughn]]. Kirn's 2001 novel, ''[[Up in the Air (novel)|Up in the Air]]'', has been characterized as a literary [[chronotope]] relating to the genre of road narratives.<ref>Hansen, Julie. "Space, time, and plane travel in Walter Kirn's novel up in the air." ''Nordic Journal of English Studies'', vol. 11, no. 3, Sept. 2012, pp. 18+</ref> It was made into a 2009 [[Up in the Air (2009 film)|film]] directed by [[Jason Reitman]]. Starring [[George Clooney]] and [[Anna Kendrick]], it was a commercial success and went on to receive critical acclaim as well as numerous nominations and awards.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sharf |first=Zack |date=2024-11-08 |title=Anna Kendrick Was Terrified to Act With George Clooney on 'Up in the Air' Until He Told Her on Set: 'I Get Insecure. Did They Even Hire the Right Guy?' |url=https://variety.com/2024/film/news/george-clooney-anna-kendrick-up-in-the-air-set-1236204903/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> 

In 2005, Kirn took over blogger [[Andrew Sullivan]]'s publication while Sullivan was on vacation. He also wrote ''The Unbinding'', an Internet-only novel that was published in ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' magazine.<ref>{{cite web | title=The Unbinding: An exclusive Slate novel. By Walter Kim | work=Slate | date=13 March 2006 | url=http://www.slate.com/id/2137804/ | access-date=2006-06-22}}</ref> 

Kirn's 2013 memoir, ''[[Blood Will Out (memoir)|Blood Will Out]]'', is an account of his relationship with the convicted [[murderer]] and [[imposter]] [[Christian Gerhartsreiter]], who had initially approached Kirn using the alias "[[Christian Gerhartsreiter#Clark Rockefeller|Clark Rockefeller]]". 

He has also reviewed books for ''[[New York Magazine]]'' and has written for ''[[The New York Times Book Review]],'' ''[[New York Times Sunday Magazine]],'' ''[[The Atlantic]]'' and [[Spy (magazine)|''Spy'']], and is a contributing editor of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', where he has received popularity for his entertaining and sometimes humorous first-person essays, among other articles of interest. He also served as an American cultural correspondent for the [[BBC]].

In 2023, Kirn and [[David Samuels (writer)|David Samuels]] launched ''[[County Highway]],'' a magazine about America in the form of a nineteenth-century newspaper. [[Donald Rosenfeld]] is the publisher.

Since 2022, Kirn has been co-hosting the ''America This Week'' podcast with [[Matt Taibbi]].

==Teaching==

In addition to teaching nonfiction writing at the [[University of Montana – Missoula|University of Montana]], Kirn was the 2008–09 Vare Nonfiction Writer in Residence at the [[University of Chicago]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://varewir.uchicago.edu/|title=Robert Vare Nonfiction Writer-in-Residence Program|website=varewir.uchicago.edu}}</ref> 

==Media==

Kirn appears on the weekly podcast, ''America This Week'' with [[Matt Taibbi]]. He is a weekly regular panelist on ''[[Gutfeld!]]'' He had a cameo appearance in ''[[Up in the Air (2009 film)|Up in the Air]]'' as a boardroom member.

==Personal life==
Kirn was born in [[Akron, Ohio]], but grew up in [[Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota]]. After high school, he attended [[Macalester College]] for one year before transferring to Princeton University.<ref name=atlantic>{{cite news| url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2005/01/lost-in-the-meritocracy/303672/ | work=The Atlantic | title=Lost in the Meritocracy | first=Walter | last=Kirn | date=2005-01-05 | access-date=2014-07-20}}</ref> Kirn's family joined [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] when he was twelve, but Kirn is no longer affiliated with the church.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4964686&ft=1&f=1033 NPR: Writer Walter Kirn, on a 'Mission to America'<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In 1995, Kirn married Maggie McGuane, the daughter of actress [[Margot Kidder]] and novelist [[Thomas McGuane]].<ref name="nyt">{{cite news| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE1D91F3DF935A2575BC0A963958260 | work=The New York Times | title=Chronicle | first=Nadine | last=Brozan | date=1995-08-16 | access-date=2010-05-27}}</ref> The couple had two children but have since divorced.<ref>[http://www.c-span.org/video/?287039-1/qa-walter-kirn - Walter Kirn] Author, "Lost in the Meritocracy: The Undereducation of an Overachiever"]</ref> Kirn is now married to magazine writer Amanda Fortini. The two split their time between [[Livingston, Montana]] and [[Las Vegas, Nevada]].

==Books==
===Fiction===
====Novels====
* ''She Needed Me'' (1992)
* ''[[Thumbsucker (novel)|Thumbsucker]]'' (1999)
* ''[[Up in the Air (novel)|Up in the Air]]'' (2001)
* ''[[Mission to America]]'' (2005)
* ''The Unbinding'' (2006)
====Short fiction collections====
*''My Hard Bargain: Stories'' (1990)<ref>{{cite book |author=Kirn, Walter |title=My Hard Bargain: Stories |location=New York |publisher=Knopf |year=1990 <!--isbn=0394583035-->}}</ref>
===Nonfiction===
* ''[[Lost in the Meritocracy: The Undereducation of an Overachiever]]'' (2009)
* ''[[Blood Will Out (memoir)|Blood Will Out: The True Story of a Murder, a Mystery, and a Masquerade]]'' (2013)

==Filmography==
* ''[[Thumbsucker (film)|Thumbsucker]]'' (2005)
* ''[[Up in the Air (2009 film)|Up in the Air]]'' (2009)

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website}}

{{USC Scripter Awards — Film}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirn, Walter}}
[[Category:1962 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:American memoirists]]
[[Category:Former Latter Day Saints]]
[[Category:Harper's Magazine people]]
[[Category:The New Yorker people]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Princeton University alumni]]
[[Category:Time (magazine) people]]
[[Category:University of Montana faculty]]