In this instance, 'up' means the top of the criminal element's food chain - he has aspirations of being the next crime lord of the city. He does realize, however, that he's at the bottom of the food chain - no job, no luck, no money and no where to go but up. In Grand Theft Auto 2, the sequel to two earlier GTA titles, your life of crime begins as down-on-his-luck Claude Speed, a recently released prisoner with no memory of how or why he was imprisoned via a cryogenically induced sleep.
