Ryan Bingham has a tough job: he fires people for a living. His company is hired by people who don't want to fire their employees, especially when they lay people off during a recession. So Ryan Bingham flies all over the country firing people. He enjoys the travel: he has no interest in going back to his small apartment in Omaha. He lives on the road. His life changes when his company threatens to ground him and have him fire people remotely through a webcam and internet connection. He has to go on the road with the young woman who invented the remote process, to prove to her why it's important to do the job in person: otherwise he will be grounded and stuck in Omaha. He has other challenges, too: like coping with his sister's wedding and meeting a new woman for sex and possibly a real relationship.