Allegedly Nobel laureate Carlos Fuentes loved to tell this story to friends:
from Jorge Volpe, La baronesa y el actor, Reforma, April 1, 2013, translation by James Horn
After a ceremonial dinner  following the inauguration of Francois Mitterand, Carlos Fuentes happened to be seated next to Margaret Thatcher. The prime minister turned to Fuentes and asked  with a practiced cold courtesy, “Excuse me, what do you do?” The Nobel laureate responded,  “I write, What do you do?”