I've recently ordered a few samples of the CC1101 and CC1111 ISM band transceivers from Texas Instruments. The CC1101 is the transceiver itself while the CC1111 is a full system on chip with a built in 8051 microcontroller core. Full details on this chip are here. I have yet to figure out how to use these chips. Google searching hasn't revealed any useful hobby schematics or example projects with this chip.
I did, however, find this: CC1101 RF modem + 250 mW amplifier. The modem seems to achieve communication over long distances (greater than 1 km).