That's funny, uncovering vital novel (6)
I believe the answer is:
lolita
'novel' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'that's funny uncovering vital' is the wordplay.
'that's funny' becomes 'lol' (abbreviation for 'laugh out loud').
'uncovering' means to look at the middle letters.
The central letters of 'vital' are 'ita'.
'lol'+'ita'='LOLITA'
(Other definitions for lolita that I've seen before include "Nabokov female" , "Controversial novel" , "1958 novel by Vladimir Nabokov" , "Literary nymphet" , "Nabokov novel about a nymphet" .)