I am not in Barking to save a life (9)
I believe the answer is:
animation
'life' is the definition.
('animation' can be a synonym of 'life')
'i am not in barking to save a' is the wordplay.
'barking' indicates anagramming the letters (UK slang for mad).
'to save' indicates putting letters inside.
'i'+'am'+'not'+'in'='iamnotin'
'iamnotin' is an anagram of 'animtion'.
'animtion' placed around 'a' is 'ANIMATION'.
(Other definitions for animation that I've seen before include "(State of) being full of life" , "Making of cartoons" , "Vigour; film technique" , "Cartoon technique" , "Being full of energy" .)