Real Life is the Earth life. The population count on Earth is a lot less than what it was before The Ending. People are categorized as Citizens or Outsiders depending on where they live. It is a very depressing place to live, and many people use LiFe as a way to escape reality and keep sane.
There's a lack of an atmosphere. There's volcanoes. The poles are messed up. Cities, the only safe places, are failing and falling apart.
Kleya's "ship" showed a map of the world.