I'm not sure that the same definition of "noir" can be applied to film and to literature. In literature, "noir" has come to have a somewhat different meaning, not a clear one but not simply "atmosphere". I think you can give a film noir treatment to a novel that we would not consider noir, for example, a harboiled novel that is not noir (Chandler is a big example).
I can easily see a great film noir made out of Westlake's 361, though the novel is not noir but ultrahardboiled. Film noir is more about how you present things on screen than what the actual story is. In this, I agree with Jim.
Best,
mrt
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