Vertical is a 2010 novel by Rex Pickett and the second novel in the Sideways Trilogy. It is a sequel to the novel Sideways, which was made into a successful 2004 film of the same name. The novel takes place seven years after the events depicted in Sideways. It contains the same characters as in the earlier novel: Miles, a writer, his friend Jack, a sometime actor, and Miles' mother Phyllis, all wine lovers. Miles is now a successful author, having written a novel called "Shameless" with much the same situations as the real-life Sideways. Like Sideways, "Shameless" has been adapted as a successful movie. Jack, who had been prosperous in Sideways, is now divorced and short of cash. Pickett says that the character Jack is based on his friend Roy Gittens, a film electrician.