Staggering up to the finish line just before 2021 ends is another episode of the languishing series Is It Funny? This time we turn to the Scots style icon Muriel Spark, whose books never fail to cheer me. She is both vicious and economical, as well as laugh out loud funny when she turns to the truly surreal and sublime. She also has great advice for writers, which may involve letters and cats. If all you know is Miss Jean Brodie, let me introduce you to the flashing scalpel of her mind.