I didn't think Felming disliked the book, I thought it was down to the critical slagging off it got pissing him off? I actually quite like it, its very different, even if as you say 007 is barely in it.
As I understand it, Fleming was somewhat uncomfortable with the book, as it was a complete change of pace for him. It's written in first person from a female point of view, and most of the book is her autobiography (including a jaw-droppingly graphic description - even by today's standards - of her losing her virginity). Fleming came up with the fiction that someone else wrote the book and gave him the manuscript (a bit of an attempt at making it seem as if Bond was real, a concept later picked up on by John Pearson's forgotten 1973 James Bond novel, "James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007"). Perhaps he felt the book wouldn't work as a film story. Or maybe he was embarrassed. It's a matter of record that he prevented any UK paperback edition during his lifetime (it eventually came out a couple years after he died).
Most of the titles are covered, except for these:
Risico: The word is Italian for "risk" and comes from the first line of the short story in which an ally of Bond's basically talks about being involved a risky business ("This piziness is much risico").
The Hildebrand Rarity: name of a fish featured in the story.
The Property of a Lady: name given to a Fabrege egg on auction and the centre of a fund-raising scheme by a double-agent. This is actually one of the few cases where a title's origin has coincided with the movie (as the story forms part of the plot of Octopussy).
Moonraker: named for the rocket, of course. The name itself comes from part of a sail on a sailing vessel. Apparently there were some issues with this title because the book came out around the same time as another book called The Moonraker was published. In the US it was initially retitled Too Hot to Handle. And apparently one title considered for the book was Mondays Are Hell!
Casino Royale: Obviously named for the location featured in the book. The original US edition carried the title You Asked for It, which I believe comes from a line of dialogue in the novel.
Just a quick list of the Fleming canon to make sure we have all his titles covered (list doesn't include Kingsley Amis (aka Robert Markham), Pearson, Gardner, Benson, Higson or Faulks)):
Casino Royale (1953)
Live and Let Die (1954)
Moonraker (1955)
Diamonds Are Forever (1956)
From Russia with Love (1957)
Dr. No (1958)
Goldfinger (1959)
For Your Eyes Only (1960) - short story collection consisting of "From a View to a Kill", "For Your Eyes Only", "Quantum of Solace", "Risico" and "The Hildebrand Rarity"
Thunderball (1961)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1962)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1963)
You Only Live Twice (1964)
The Man with the Golden Gun (posthumous, 1965)
Octopussy and the Living Daylights (posthumous, 1966) - short story collection initially consisting of "Octopussy" and "The Living Daylights". Later editions added "The Property of a Lady" and "007 in New York"
No "lost" Fleming Bond stories have ever been found, except for a fragment of either a short story or novel, and also Fleming had a title in consideration: "My Enemy's Enemy" which was based on the phrase "my enemy's enemy is my friend".
From "Licence to Kill" to "Die Another Day" none of the film titles came from any of Fleming's stories, though both Licence to Kill and Die Another Day incorporated plot elements and characters from the Fleming canon (LtK adapted parts of Live and Let Die and featured characters from The Hildebrand Rarity; Die Another Day was actually a partial adaptation of the original Moonraker novel (Miranda Frost was even named Gala Brand at one point - the name of the Bond girl in the book) and also borrowed a character name from the Amis/Markham novel Colonel Sun.
Alex
