Novelist Buckley, Smoking Out the Self-Righteous

Christopher Buckley, photographed at The Caucus Room, a (smoky) bar in Washington, D.C.

Jesse Baker, NPR

In the film version of Buckley's book, Aaron Eckhart plays Nick Naylor, chief spokesman for Big Tobacco.

Put this in your pipe and smoke it: They've made a movie out of Christopher Buckley's 1994 novel Thank You for Smoking.

The satire about one nation's quasi-puritanical vendetta against Big Tobacco and the lobbyist who defends the people's right to life, liberty and the potential pursuit of lung cancer opens this Friday across the country.

Aaron Eckhart stars as Nick Naylor, with a supporting cast that includes Robert Duvall, Maria Bello, Rob Lowe, Katie Holmes and William H. Macy.

Liane Hansen sat Buckley down to talk about the movie in a swanky, smoke-filled Washington, D.C. bar called The Caucus Room. It's not far from K Street, where Washington's lobbyists hang out.

NPR's Jesse Baker produced this story.