Alex Proyas is set to direct the big-screen adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein's sci-fi novel "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag" for Phoenix Pictures, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

Phoenix execs call the project a "complex psychological thriller with plenty of action as well as some love interest."

The book, originally published in 1942, focuses on a man who has no memories of his daily activities. To uncover the mystery and find out what he spends his time doing, he hires a pair of detectives, who eventually stumble across series of secrets no one could ever have imagined.

Proyas wrote the screenplay himself and will likely head into pre-production for the flick once he is done with the Nicolas Cage vehicle "Knowing," which opens March 20, 2009.

This is not the first Heinlein novel to make the transition to the big screen. His "Starship Troopers" debuted in theaters in 1997 and became a worldwide hit.

Proyas' directing credits also include "The Crow," "Dark City" and "I, Robot."